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SUMMARY:Sandy Rutherford (SFU)
DTSTART:20241128T220000Z
DTEND:20241128T230000Z
DTSTAMP:20260513T193319Z
UID:SFUOR/44
DESCRIPTION:Title: <a href="https://researchseminars.org/talk/SFUOR/44/">C
 ritical Care Planning for Pandemic Response</a>\nby Sandy Rutherford (SFU)
  as part of PIMS-CORDS SFU Operations Research Seminar\n\nLecture held in 
 ASB 10908.\n\nAbstract\nThe COVID-19 Pandemic placed considerable strain o
 n intensive care units\, and the critical care system in British Columbia 
 and worldwide. I will review the critical care system and how it responded
  to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic\
 , we developed a simulation model to inform mechanical ventilator access i
 n BC. One of the challenges that we faced is that simulation models are di
 fficult to study under epidemic growth in demand. I will describe approxim
 ation methods from queueing theory that we used to address this challenge.
  Specifically\, I will explore the accuracy of three queueing theory appro
 ximations under epidemic growth in demand\, namely: the pointwise stationa
 ry approximation\, the modified offered load approximation\, and the fixed
 -point approximation. We found that the fixed-point approximation is the m
 ost accurate and a hybrid optimization approach combining the fixed-point 
 approximation with simulation optimization was developed to determine the 
 number of mechanical ventilators required to ensure that at least 95% of p
 atients could access a ventilator immediately during the first wave of the
  COVOD-19 pandemic. Strengthening the BC critical care system to respond t
 o seasonal respiratory illnesses and future pandemics is a priority of the
  Ministry of Health. I will describe a large-scale simulation model that w
 e have developed to support this effort and discuss how operations researc
 h can contribute to improving quality of care\, efficiency\, and resilienc
 y in the critical care system.\n
LOCATION:https://researchseminars.org/talk/SFUOR/44/
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