Flu Season Equipment Readiness: How Hospitals Can Prevent Shortages, Support Infection Prevention, and Manage Surges

Each influenza (flu) season tests the resilience of hospital infrastructure, staffing, and infection prevention programs. Rising patient volumes, rapid viral spread, and shifting population demographics place extraordinary pressure on the availability, maintenance, and deployment of medical equipment.

In this Q&A with Infection Control Today^® (ICT^®), Andrew Yamarick, MBA, General Manager of Medical Technology Management at Agiliti, shares practical insights on how hospitals can prepare equipment and support systems ahead of peak flu season. From improving real-time inventory visibility to ensuring patient-ready devices and surge capacity, Yamarick outlines operational strategies that help health systems maintain patient safety, support infection prevention, and avoid costly disruptions when demand spikes.

ICT: What should hospitals be doing in the flu season to prepare their equipment and infrastructure for rising patient volumes?

Andrew Yamarick, MBA: Each flu season underscores a fundamental truth: Proactive planning prevents crisis response. Hospitals must ensure that high-demand equipment, such as ventilators, infusion pumps, beds, and therapeutic surfaces, is patient-ready and strategically deployed where care needs are greatest. Beyond equipment, system-level coordination is critical: confirming preventive maintenance schedules, clarifying responsibilities across clinical engineering, supply chain, and health care technology management (HTM) teams, and ensuring access to surge capacity.

Readiness is about more than having equipment on hand. It requires having the right equipment in the right place, fully serviced and deployable with speed when demand fluctuates. Leveraging an organized network of field teams, flexible supplemental support, and rapid access to spare equipment helps hospitals respond quickly to surges while also maintaining patient safety and reducing strain on care teams.

ICT: Influenza A (H3N2) subclade K is spreading rapidly and has already been detected in more than half of the US states. From an operational standpoint, how does a fast-moving strain change readiness planning for medical equipment and critical care resources?

AY: The rapid spread has emphasized the critical need for flexible, fast responses. Hospitals must be more agile than ever, anticipating sudden shifts in demand and ensuring equipment can be scaled up or redeployed across units or facilities on short notice. Operational plans should prioritize accessibility, backup capacity, and rapid response.

Hospitals should consider cross-training technical staff, leveraging supplemental teams and third-party vendor networks, and applying predictive maintenance insights to help keep equipment patient-ready. Pre-positioning replacement equipment enables hospitals to respond quickly when demand spikes.

When combined, hospitals can maintain stable care delivery and minimize interruptions, even during sudden surges like we are seeing this year.

ICT: Peak flu months often expose gaps in visibility across devices, beds, and support equipment. What are the biggest risks hospitals face when they lack real-time insight into their equipment inventory during a surge?

AY: Lack of visibility creates the illusion of a shortage even when equipment exists. Without clear insight into what is available, where it is located, and whether it is patient-ready, hospitals may respond reactively, straining resources and staff.

These gaps can lead to delayed patient care and higher costs associated with waste. From an infection prevention perspective, poor coordination can also increase safety risks, as equipment may not be properly cleaned, maintained, or redeployed effectively. Inventory tracking enables faster issue detection, prioritization, and mobilization of support, ultimately improving patient care during peak periods.

Hospitals that invest in inventory management, cross-team coordination and proactive deployment strategies are more resilient. Treating visibility as a strategic priority, rather than just an operational issue, improves efficient resource allocation, ensures patient safety and maintains quality care during the most critical flu season periods.

ICT: Children and young adults are seeing increased flu activity earlier this season. How does a shift in affected populations influence equipment demand, particularly in emergency departments, pediatric units, and respiratory care?

AY: Population shifts can affect both the types and locations of equipment required. When flu activity increases, EDs and pediatric units may experience earlier or more sustained surges, driving demand for beds, respiratory support, and rapid-turn devices. Pediatric and young adult patients often require different equipment sizes, configurations and care environments, adding strain to high-throughput areas.

To stay ready, hospitals should keep pediatric and respiratory equipment well-maintained and ready for rapid deployment. Access to technical teams and support networks enables hospitals to quickly adapt as patient needs evolve. With predictive planning and coordinated workflows, hospitals can reduce delays, optimize equipment utilization, and ensure the right resources reach the right units at the right time.

ICT: Looking ahead to the busiest weeks of flu season, what practical steps can health systems take to proactively manage equipment, prevent shortages, and support infection prevention efforts when staffing and supply chains are already strained?

AY: Effective planning begins well before patient volumes have surged. Hospitals should clear preventive maintenance and repair backlogs, ensure high-use equipment is clean and functioning properly, and anticipate increased patient loads to address risks early.

Medical equipment rental is a practical way to boost overall readiness without putting extra strain on in-house teams. Immediate access to high-demand devices such as infusion pumps, ventilators, surgical instruments, beds and specialty surfaces helps prevent shortages and keeps staff workload more manageable to enable caregivers to stay focused on patient care.

Flexible staffing plans, supplemental support, and on-demand vendor networks help further maintain continuity during peak demand. Partnering with service partners that offer both local and national reach ensures consistent response times and supports reliable patient care. By treating equipment readiness, flexible resourcing, and infection prevention as strategic priorities, hospitals can prevent shortages, protect patient safety, and stay resilient throughout peak flu weeks.