Citizendia

ICU room
ICU room

An intensive care unit (ICU), critical care unit (CCU), intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive care medicine. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for Intensive Care Medicine or critical care medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with the provision of Life support or organ support systems in patients Many hospitals also have designated intensive care areas for certain specialities of medicine, as dictated by the needs and available resources of each hospital. The naming is not rigidly standardized.

Contents

History

In 1854, Florence Nightingale left for the Crimean War, where the necessity to separate seriously wounded soldiers from less-seriously wounded was observed. Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC (in her own pronunciation ˈflɒɾəns ˈnaɪtɪŋgeɪl 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910 who came to be known as "The The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought Nightingale reduced mortality from 40% to 2% on the battlefield, creating the concept of intensive care.

In 1950, anesthesiologist Peter Safar established the concept of "Advanced Support of Life," keeping patients sedated and ventilated in an intensive care environment. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. An anaesthetist ( English) or anesthesiologist ( US English) also "anaesthesiologist" is a medical doctor trained to administer Peter Safar ( April 12, 1924 &ndash August 2, 2003) was an Austrian physician of Czech descent Safar is considered the first intensivist. Intensive Care Medicine or critical care medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with the provision of Life support or organ support systems in patients

In response to a polio epidemic (where many patients required constant ventilation and survelliance), Bjørn Ibsen established the first intensive care unit in Copenhagen in 1953. Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral Infectious disease spread from person to person primarily via In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city [1] The first application of this idea in the United States was pioneered by Dr. William Mosenthal, a surgeon at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC is New Hampshire 's only academic medical center and is headquartered on a campus in the heart of the Upper Connecticut [2] In the 1960s, the importance of cardiac arrhythmias as a source of morbidity and mortality in myocardial infarctions (Heart Attacks) was recognized. Dysrhythmia redirects here For the American band see Dysrhythmia (band. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply This led to the routine use of cardiac monitoring in ICUs, especially in the post-MI setting.

Types

Specialized types of ICUs include:

Equipment and systems

Common equipment in an ICU includes mechanical ventilator to assist breathing through an endotracheal tube or a tracheotomy opening; cardiac monitors including telemetry, external pacemakers, and defibrillators; dialysis equipment for renal problems; equipment for the constant monitoring of bodily functions; a web of intravenous lines, feeding tubes, nasogastric tubes, suction pumps, drains and catheters; and a wide array of drugs to treat the main condition(s), induce sedation, reduce pain, and prevent secondary infections. A neonatal intensive care unit, usually shortened NICU (pronounced "Nickyou" and also called a newborn intensive care unit intensive care nursery (ICN and special A coronary care unit (CCU is a hospital ward specialized in the care of Patients with heart attacks Unstable angina and (in practice various other cardiac In Medicine, mechanical ventilation is a method to mechanically assist or replace spontaneous breathing when patients cannot do so on their own In Medicine, intubation refers to the placement of a tube into an external or internal orifice of the body Tracheotomy and tracheostomy are Surgical procedures on the neck to open a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (the windpipe Telemetry (synonymous with Telematics) is a Technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of Information of interest to the system designer For other uses see Pacemaker (disambiguation A pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the heart's natural pacemaker Defibrillation is the definitive treatment for the life-threatening Cardiac arrhythmias Ventricular fibrillation and Ventricular tachycardia. In Medicine, dialysis (from Greek "dialusis" meaning dissolution "dia" meaning through and "lusis" meaning loosening is primarily A medical monitor is an automated Medical device that senses a patient's Vital signs and displays the results Pharmacology (from Greek grc φάρμακον pharmakon, "drug" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of how Drugs


Quality of care

Medicine suggests a relation between ICU volume and quality of care for mechanically ventilated patients. [3] After adjustment for severity of illness, demographic variables, and characteristics of the ICUs (including staffing by intensivists), higher ICU volume was significantly associated with lower ICU and hospital mortality rates.

Staff

Medical staff typically includes intensivists with training in internal medicine, surgery, anesthesia, or emergency medicine. Many Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants with specialized training are also now part of the staff that provide continuity of care for patients. Staff typically includes specially trained critical care Registered Nurses, Registered Respiratory Therapists, Nutritionists, Physical Therapists, etc.

See also

References

  1. ^ Intensive Care Unit. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Surgery (from the χειρουργική cheirourgikē, via chirurgiae meaning "hand work" is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental In Medicine, a surgeon is a person who performs Surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive Medical treatment that involves the cutting of a Anesthesia, or anaesthesia (see spelling differences; from Greek grc αν- an-, "without" and grc αἲσθησις An anaesthetist ( English) or anesthesiologist ( US English) also "anaesthesiologist" is a medical doctor trained to administer ASA stands for American Society of Anesthesiologists. In 1963 the ASA adopted a five category physical status classification system for assessing a patient before Surgery. A patient is any person who receives medical attention care or treatment. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health A rare disease (sometimes known as an orphan disease has such a low Prevalence in a population that a doctor in a busy General practice would not Traumatology (from Greek "Trauma" meaning injury or wound is the study of Wounds and injuries caused by Accidents or Violence to a Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing The health care industry or health profession treats and tends to patients who are injured sick disabled or infirm This article describes policy-related systems For the article on hospital networks which are sometimes referred to as health care systems see Hospital network. Internet Journal of Health.
  2. ^ Remembering Dr. William Mosenthal: A simple idea from a special surgeon. Dartmouth Medicine. Retrieved on 2007-04-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama
  3. ^ Kahn JM, Goss CH, Heagerty PJ, Kramer AA, O'Brien CR, Rubenfeld GD. (2006). "Hospital volume and the outcomes of mechanical ventilation.". New England Journal of Medicine 355 (1): 41–50. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa053993. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.  
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic