ABC Of Intensive Care pdf

Organisation of intensive care:

Intensive care dates from the polio epidemic in Copenhagen in
1952. Doctors reduced the 90% mortality in patients receiving
respiratory support with the cuirass ventilator to 40% by a
combination of manual positive pressure ventilation provided
through a tracheostomy by medical students and by caring for
patients in a specific area of the hospital instead of across
different wards. Having an attendant continuously at the
bedside improved the quality of care but increased the costs
and, in some cases, death was merely delayed.
These findings are still relevant to intensive care today, even
though it has expanded enormously so that almost every
hospital will have some form of intensive care unit. Many
questions still remain unanswered regarding the relation
between costs and quality of intensive care, the size and location
of intensive care units, the number of nursing and medical staff
and intensive care beds required, and how to direct scarce
resources towards those most likely to benefit