Assembly Line ICU: what the Long Shops taught us about managing surge capacity for COVID-19.

Objectives: To safely expand and adapt the normal workings of a large critical care unit in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: In April 2020, UK health systems were challenged to expand critical care capacity rapidly during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic so that they could accommodate patients with respiratory and multiple organ failure. Here, we describe the preparation and adaptive responses of a large critical care unit to the oncoming burden of disease.