Resoundingly Human: The dangers of overcrowding: Helping ICUs preserve essential bed space

05/14/20 • 41 min

As the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic continues, supply shortages are something we are all facing, none with a more critical impact than those involving hospitals and healthcare workers. We’ve heard of the shortages of personal protective equipment or PPE, like face masks and gloves, and the lack of an adequate number of ventilators for the most seriously ill patients. But as the number of cities and communities impacted by the virus continues to grow, what do hospitals do when there are more patients in their ICUs than beds to hold them along with the accompanying monitoring and life-saving equipment? To discuss a very serious reality facing many hospitals across the country, I am joined by Frances Sneddon, chief technology officer with SIMUL8 Corporation.

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Resoundingly Human: The path to success for women in IT

We’d like to think that our performance at work, regardless of our sex, is the primary deciding factor in deciding whether or not we are recognized for our work with a promotion. You do a good job, you earn recognition, right? Unfortunately, according to new research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research in certain fields this might not actually be the case. Joining me for this episode is Nishtha Langer, professor with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to discuss her study “Onwards and Upwards? An Empirical Investigation of Gender and Promotions in IT Services.”

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Resoundingly Human: Preparing for a second wave of COVID-19

It seems surreal to think that at the start of this year, few of us were aware of the threat of a novel new virus gaining momentum overseas. Now, only a few months later, the coronavirus or COVID-19, is a global pandemic, the effects of which have impacted nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives.

As the number of cases in the U.S. continued to grow, states enacted restrictions to enforce social distancing efforts, with stay at home orders, business closures, and for businesses deemed essential, establishing guidelines to ensure customer and employee safety. At the heart of this was the desire to limit person-to-person contact in order to slow the rapidly climbing rate of infections. And so the terminology, “flatten the curve,” became part of our everyday conversation.

For this episode I am joined by Julie Swann, department head and A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor of the Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering with North Carolina State University, to discuss what the impact could be on the national and even world-wide effort to flatten the curve as states being to lift their restrictions.