EXPLAINER: What are 'Crisis Standards of Care?'

by REBECCA BOONE, IRIS SAMUELS AND LINDSEY TANNER, The Associated Press

Fri, September 17th 2021, 8:57 PM UTC

Dr. William Dittrich M.D. looks over a COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.. More then half of the patients in the ICU are COVID-19 positive, none of which are vaccinated. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)

Ann Enderle R.N. checks on a COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. There are only 4 open ICU beds available in all of Idaho as of Tuesday. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2021, file photo, Jack Kingsley R.N. attends to a COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. Idaho's public health leaders have expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, asked state health leaders to allow "crisis standards of care" on Wednesday because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)

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Dr. William Dittrich M.D. looks over a COVID-19 patient in the Medical Intensive care unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.. More then half of the patients in the ICU are COVID-19 positive, none of which are vaccinated. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)

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