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Objectives: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID‐19 admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) during the initial months of the pandemic in Australia. Design, setting: Prospective, observational cohort study in 77 ICUs across Australia. Participants: Patients admitted to participating ICUs with laboratory‐confirmed COVID‐19 during 27 February – 30 June 2020. Main outcome measures: ICU mortality and resource use (ICU length of stay, peak bed occupancy). Results: The median age of the 204 patients with COVID‐19 admitted to intensive care was 63.5 years (IQR, 53–72 years); 140 were men (69%). The most frequent comorbid conditions were obesity (40% of patients), diabetes (28%), hypertension treated with angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (24%), and chronic cardiac disease (20%); 73 patients (36%) reported no comorbidity. The most frequent source of infection was overseas travel (114 patients, 56%). Median peak ICU bed occupancy was 14% (IQR, 9–16%). Invasive ventilation was provided for 119 patients (58%). Median length of ICU stay was greater for invasively ventilated patients than for non‐ventilated patients (16 days; IQR, 9–28 days v 3 days; IQR, 2–5 days), as was ICU mortality (26 deaths, 22%; 95% CI, 15–31% v four deaths, 5%; 95% CI, 1–12%). Higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE‐II) scores on ICU day 1 (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.15; 95% CI, 1.09–1.21) and chronic cardiac disease (aHR, 3.38; 95% CI, 1.46–7.83) were each associated with higher ICU mortality. Conclusion: Until the end of June 2020, mortality among patients with COVID‐19 who required invasive ventilation in Australian ICUs was lower and their ICU stay longer than reported overseas. Our findings highlight the importance of ensuring adequate local ICU capacity, particularly as the pandemic has not yet ended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the rate of adverse events and incidents occurring as a result of hospital staff leaving normal duties to attend medical emergency team (MET) calls., Design, Participants and Setting: Single-centre, interview and questionnaire-based study of staff attending MET calls at a 650-bed university teaching hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, July to December 2013., Main Outcome Measure: The rate of adverse events and incidents directly related to MET staff leaving normal duties to attend MET calls., Results: During the study period, 1490 structured interviews were conducted, and 279 written questionnaires were returned (overall response rate, 66.4%). There were no adverse events. There were 378 recorded incidents. The incident rate was 213.7 incidents per 1000 MET participant attendances (95% CI, 194.8-233.5), and 1.1 incidents per MET call. Using the severity assessment code, 99.5% of incidents were classified as minimum. The most commonly reported incidents were disruptions to normal duties, ward rounds, and patient reviews. Only 0.8% of incidents were reported on institutional incident reporting systems., Conclusion: Significant disruption to normal hospital routines and inconvenience to staff occurred, without causing major harm to patients, when MET staff temporarily left normal duties to attend MET calls. Normal hospital incident reporting systems cannot be used to monitor for these problems, as they are underreported.