Department that facilitates intensive care medicine.
Intensive care units cater to patients with the most severe and life-threatening illnesses and injuries, which require constant, close invasive monitoring and support from specialist equipment and medication in order to ensure normal bodily functions. They are staffed by highly trained doctors and critical care nurses who specialise in caring for seriously ill patients. Patients may be transferred directly to an intensive care unit from an emergency department if required, or from a ward if they rapidly deteriorate, or immediately after surgery if the surgery is very invasive and the patient is at high risk of complications.
Recovery
Once a person is able to breathe unaided, they may no longer need to be in intensive care and can be transferred to a different ward to continue their recovery. Depending on their condition, the person will either be transferred to a high dependency unit (HDU), which is one level down from intensive care, or to a general ward. The time it takes to recover varies greatly from person to person. It also depends on things such as age, level of health and fitness, as well as how severe the condition is
Why all the machines?
Ventilator is used when patients are too weak or ill to breathe for themselves. When your family member or friend has a ventilator working for them, they are unable to speak to you. So when you speak to him or her, ask simple questions that can be answered with a shake or nod of the head. The patient will often be heavily sedated to keep him or her comfortable, so may appear and feel very sleepy and may not always respond to you. Heart monitor, looks like a television with many coloured lines moving across the screen. The lines (traces) measure the activity of the patient's heart. The heart monitor is connected to the patient by means of sticky pads on the skin. The beeps and other electronic noises you hear constantly are the alerts from the machines to let the nurse know when something needs attention. In addition you will probably see several tubes called catheters either putting fluid and nutrients into the patient or taking other fluids out. Working together, these machines and monitors help make intensive care as safe and effective as possible.
Who is cared for in the ICU?
Many different types of patients are admitted to the ICU. Some come from the Emergency Department, some from other wards within the hospital because of complications from their illness. While there are many different types of patients in the ICU they all need the same thing - constant observation and specialised care.