BCRSS — Brescia COVID-19 Respiratory Severity Scale

The Brescia-COVID Respiratory Severity Scale (BCRSS) is a bedside clinical scoring tool developed at the COVID-19 unit in Brescia, Italy (one of the earliest heavily affected COVID-19 epicenters in 2020) to standardize respiratory monitoring and escalation decisions in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The scale uses five evaluable clinical parameters: ability to lie supine, respiratory rate, SpO₂, confusion/agitation, and oxygen requirements — and generates 0–8 points that correspond to stepwise respiratory failure progression with specific management pathways at each level.