Table 1.

Definitions.

Term	Definition
Surge capacity	Ability to manage a sudden, unexpected increase in patient volume (ie, numbers of patients) that would otherwise severely challenge or exceed the current capacity of the health care system
Surge capability	Ability of the health care system to manage patients who require specialized evaluation or interventions (eg, contaminated, highly contagious, or burn patients)
Public health surge capacity	Ability of the public health system to increase capacity not only for patient care but also for epidemiologic investigation, risk communication, mass prophylaxis or vaccination, mass fatality management, mental health support, laboratory services, and other activities
Facility-based surge capacity	Actions taken at the health care facility level that augment services within the response structure of the health care facility; may include responses that are external to the actual structure of the facility but are proximate to it (eg, medical care provided in tenting on the hospital grounds). These responses are under the control of the facility's incident management system and primarily depend on the facility's emergency operations plans.
Community-based surge capacity	Actions taken at a community level to supplement health care facility responses. These may provide for triage and initial treatment, nonambulatory care overflow, or isolation (eg, off-site “hospital” facility). These responses are under the control of the jurisdictional response (eg, public health, emergency management) and represent a public effort to support and augment the health care system.