Define surge capacity and describe two strategies to increase patient care capacity during a disaster.

• A. Surge capacity is the ability to rapidly mobilize resources within standard operating hours.
• B. Surge capacity is the ability to increase patient load beyond normal capacity using only external hospitals.
• C. Surge capacity is the ability to expand medical care beyond normal levels; strategies include repurposing spaces and redeploying staff and implementing triage and alternative care sites.
• D. Surge capacity refers to stockpiling medicines.

Answer: (C)

Surge capacity is the ability to expand medical care beyond normal levels to meet a surge in patient volume during disasters. To achieve this, two practical strategies are repurposing spaces and redeploying staff, and using triage with alternative care sites. Repurposing spaces means turning nonclinical areas into patient care spaces—think converting gyms, conference rooms, or parking lots into wards, and even setting up field hospitals—to quickly increase bed capacity. Redeploying staff involves reassigning clinicians and support personnel to areas of greatest need, cross-training as needed, and adjusting shifts so care teams can cover the expanded patient load. Pairing this with triage and alternative care sites helps manage who needs high-acuity hospital care and where care can be delivered, such as establishing urgent care centers, mobile clinics, or other off-site locations to treat less critical cases and reduce hospital crowding. This combination keeps the health system functional when demand outpaces normal capacity. The other options don’t capture the expansion beyond ordinary capacity or the full range of practical actions used to surge care, focusing instead on variables like timing, reliance on external hospitals, or stockpiling without addressing actual care expansion.