Editorial
Mobility in Care
Author Jean-Louis Vincent Head, Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital Free University of Brussels, Belgium Critical care has traditionally been administered through intensive care units and emergency departments attached to a hospital. In this setting, intensivists, nurses and other medical specialists work together, side by side, to treat the critically ill. But medical emergencies ma...
News and Innovations
Worldwide
WHO: Workforce Crisis Endangers Healthcare www.who.int The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in its World Health Report 2006 that a serious shortage of trained healthcare professionals is severely limiting the life-saving services available in 57 countries around the world, 36 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, this shortage, in conjunction with inadequate medical trai...
National
ASPE Releases First-Ever Treatment Guidelines for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain www.paineducators.org The American Society of Pain Educators (ASPE) published consensus guidelines for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.This is the first set of guidelines ever released on this medical condition. The guidelines are intended to giv...
Research
IARS Research Awards www.iars.org Deadlines for 2007 International Anaesthesia Research Society (IARS) research award applications are rapidly approaching. Applications for the 2007 IARS Clinical Scholar Research Awards are due June 5, 2006. This annual award, of up to $80,000 is intended to fund clinical investigations that enhance the understanding of clinical practice in anesthesiology and rela...
Cover Story:Mobility in Care
Wireless Technology in the ICU:Enhancing Mobility and Improving Patient Care
Author Neil A. Halpern,, MD, FCCM Chief of Critical Care Medicine Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA Professor of Clinical Medicine Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA [email protected] Wireless technology offers a viable opportunity to make ICUs more mobile and introduces new possibilities f...
Forward Surgical Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan
Authors Jon Fuerstenberg, MD Department of Surgery University of Minnesota Minneapolis, USA Greg Beilman, MD Department of Surgery University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA Jon Fuerstenberg [email protected] This article is an overview of the role of Forward Surgical Teams in support of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Introduction As of February 2006, there wer...
Equipment Challenges During Critical Care Aeromedical Evacuation
Authors Elizabeth Bridges, PhD RN CCNS, Lt Col USAFR NC University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, USA Clinical Investigations Facility, Travis AFB, USA Joseph Schmelz, PhD RN, Lt Col USAF NC (Ret) Karen Evers, MSN RN, Lt Col, USAF NC (Ret) D. Johnson PhD RN, Col USAFR NC (Ret) Marla De Jong, PhD RN, Lt Col USAF NC 59th Clinical Research Squadron, Lackland AFB USA Elizabeth Br...
Critical Care Medicine Limited by Speed of Light
Authors Scott A. Dulchavsky, MD, PhD David S. Kwon, MD Henry Ford Health Systems, Department of Surgery, Detroit, USA Douglas R. Hamilton, MD, PhD Ashot E. Sargsyan, MD Shannon Melton, BSc Wyle Laboratories, Houston, USA Scott A. Dulchavsky [email protected] Remote delivery of critical care is a feasible option with the advancement of remote guidance and telementoring techniques....
Matrix Features
Antibiotic Strategies for Prevention of Nosocomial Pulmonary Infections in Mechanically
Ventilated Patients Authors R. Ferrer A. Navas A. Artigas Critical Care Center, Sabadell Hospital, Parc Tauli University Institute, Barcelona Autonomous University, Spain Ricard Ferrer [email protected] Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) still remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality from hospital-acquired infections. Antibiotic strategies for VAP prevention include antibioti...
A Multidisciplinary Approach in the Development of a Hospital-Based Sepsis Protocol
Author M.Claire McManus, Pharm.D. Pharmacy Department, Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, USA [email protected] At Caritas St Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a multidisciplinary care group successfully devised and implemented a Sepsis Protocol for the hospital. Medical, pharmacy and nursing health professionals were involved in all facets of the process, from construction of...
Pain Management in the ICU
Authors Viviane CHALHOUB*, MD, Resident Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Hôpital de l’Hôtel-Dieu, Beirut, Lebanon Dan BENHAMOU MD, Professor and Chairman Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Hôpital de Bicêtre, Cedex, France This article reviews the need to improve pain management for ICU patients. Regular evaluation of pain using scales adapted to the patients lev...
Airway Management and Cardiopulmonary Arrest in Obstetric Patients
Author MariamA. Al-Ansari, MD, FRCSI Consultant Intensivist, Salmaniya Medical Complex Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain [email protected]. Airway management in obstetric patients carries significant risk of complications. Introduction The potential need to manipulate the airway is perhaps the leading cause of concern in pregnant patients (Chadwick et al. 1991). Anatomic...
Product Comparison: Multigas Monitors
Multiple Medical Gas Monitors, Respired/Aesthetic
Introduction This product comparison covers stand-alone and modular multiple medical gas monitors (MMGMs) that can determine concentrations of aesthetic and respiratory gases (oxygen [O2], nitrous oxide [N2O], carbon dioxide [CO2] and halogenated agents) in the patient breathing circuit during anaesthesia. MMGMs continuously sample and measure inspired and expired (end-tidal) concentrations of respirator...
Multiple Medical Gas Monitors
ECRI Europe Weltech Centre Ridgeway Welwyn Garden City Herts AL7 2AA, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0)1707 871511 Fax. +44 (0)1707 393138 [email protected] www.ecri.org.uk ECRI is a totally independent non profit research agency designated as a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization (WHO). Such organizations are appointed to contribute to WHO’s public health mission by providin...
Management
How to Use Data Analysis from Clinical Information Systems to Help Manage Intensive Care Units
Author Michael Imhoff, MD PhD Department for Medical Informatics, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany [email protected] Secondary analysis of patient-related data from clinical information systems offers potential for ICU management support, quality and cost improvements. Dr. Imhoff discusses processes and examples of Clinical Information System (CIS) data analysis....
Communication with Families in the ICU
Authors Ronald Pauldine ,MD, Fellow Todd Dorman, MD, FCCM Associate Professor Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA Todd Dorman [email protected] Effective communication is key when working with ICUpatients’ family members Introduction Effective communication with the family members of critically ill and...
Added Value from Nursing Research
Authors Christina Jones, BSc, MPhil, PhD, Dip, Couns Nurse Consultant Critical Care Follow-up, Intensive Care Unit, Whiston Hospital, Prescot, UK & Intensive Care Research Group, Dept. of Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK [email protected] Christina Jones discusses the ways in which nursing research, with its emphasis on holistic care of the patient, can enhance patient care...
Views and Interviews
An Interview with Dr. Peter Angood
Author Peter Angood, , MD, FRCS(C) FACS FCCM Vice-President & Chief Patient Safety Officer Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations Chief Patient Safety Officer & Co-Director Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety [email protected] Dr. Peter Angood served as the President for the Society of Critical Care Medicine from January 2005 to January 200...
EU Focus
Institution Series: Court of Justice
Author Sonja Planitzer Editor European Affairs The Court of Justice of the European Communities (“the Court” or ECJ) is the judicial institution of the European Union (EU). It was originally established under the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and is based in Luxemburg. The Court upholds the Treaties of the EU and ensures that EU legislation is interpreted, applied and enforced in...
EU News
EU Ban on Measuring Instruments Containing Mercury. The EU Commission intends to introduce a ban on the use of measuring equipment containing mercury. The proposal is part of the EU’s strategy on mercury to reduce the amount of toxic mercury which ends up in waste disposal sites. Until now, individual EU States have worked to different regulations. The EU will now set out clear guidelines governing the...
Country Focus:Spain
Spanish National Health System
Author Juan Roca Guiseris, MD President of Spanish Society Critical Care and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC) Critical Care and Emergency Department Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain [email protected] This article presents a description of the Spanish National Health System. Spain: General Information Spain occupies 505,182 km2 and had a population...
Educational Programme on Intensive Care Medicine in Spain
Author Dr Gumersindo Gonzalez Diaz Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Universitario Morales Meseguer, Murcia, Spain [email protected] This article describes the development of intensive care medicine in Spain as a primary speciality and its specific, five-year training programme, initiated in 1979. Introduction The idea of grouping critical patients in a common area wa...
Pre-Hospital Care of Critically Ill Patients in Catalonia: Past, Present and Future
Authors Gilberto Alonso Fernández, M.D. Regional Chief. Catalan Emergency Medical System Fernando García Alfranca, M.D. Director. Catalan Emergency Medical System Antonio Artigas Raventós, M.D, Ph. D. Director. Critical Care Department Sabadell Hospital, Spain The Catalan Medical Emergency System (SEM) is thirty years old. Demographic and socio-economical changes, as well as im...
Graded Levels of Intensive Care in Spain
Authors Francisco Baigorri, MD, PhD Head Intermediate Care Unit Critical Care Center, Hospital de Sabadell – University Institute Parc Taulí, Autonomous University of Barcelona Sabadell, Spain Antonio Artigas, MD, PhD Professor University Institute Parc Taulí, Autonomous University of Barcelona Director Critical Care Center Hospital de Sabadell – University Institute Parc Taul�...
Congress Previews
Global Challenges, Patient Centred Solutions
Author Dr Andrew Rhodes Chair, Division of Scientific Affairs, ESICM [email protected] Dr. Rhodes previews the interaction, learning and dissemination of scientific knowledge offered by the ESICM’s annual Congress in September. This year, the 19th annual congress of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) will take place at the Barcelona International Convention Centr...