According to the Public Health Emergency site from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, medical surge refers to health care organizations’ (HCOs’) ability to provide adequate medical evaluation and care during times that exceed the limits of the community’s normal medical infrastructure. In response to events such as mass casualties or infectious diseases, HCOs must exhibit medical system resiliency by maintaining or rapidly recovering any compromised operations.
Medical surge encompasses both medical surge capacity and medical surge capability, collectively referred to as MSCC.