Basoulis D, Liatis S, Skouloudi M, et al. - Researchers investigated the survival rates and predictors in critically ill patients. They prospectively enrolled patients receiving mechanical ventilation during their care in the IM wards of a tertiary University hospital and assessed them for 90-day mortality and for in-hospital mortality and ICU transfer. The cohort was comprised of 151 unique patient intubations, of whom 74 (49%) cases were transferred to ICU within a median of 0 days (range 0–7). Observations revealed that mortality for patients receiving mechanical ventilation in IM wards is almost inevitable when there is lack of ICU availability. Among several possible predictors of survival in the ICU, the best prognostic accuracy was attained for in-hospital and 90-day mortality using sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score at the time of intubation. A baseline SOFA score ≤ 8 had a 100% sensitivity for prediction of survival in ICU.  However, they reported survival of only one out of 26 patients with SOFA score ≤ 8 who remained in the wards, whereas futile care was provided to 19 patients with SOFA score > 8 who were transferred to ICUs. Per findings, it is imperative to apply additional transfer criteria beyond the SOFA score.