Specialty
Intensive Care – Intensivist
An intensivist is a doctor who specialises in caring for critically ill patients.
Medical Conditions
Any medical or surgical illness or operation that requires critical care support – generally life threatening major illnesses or operations where high level life support is required.
Specialty Areas of Interest
- Surgical intensive care
- Medical intensive care
- Paediatric intensive care
- Research
Associated Tests
Intensive care units generally operate in major hosptials with access to all types of bedside, laboratory, radiology and other investigations.
Procedures
Treatment generally involves a multidisciplinary team. The intensive care specialist will direct patient management and ensure the patient is medically controlled as well as possible while other specialty teams intervene as appropriate.
Some common procedures include:
- Intubation
- Ventilation
- Dialysis
- Percutaneous tracheostomy
- Central venous access
- Arterial cannulation
What to expect
Intensive care units are high level critical care units. Patients are intensively monitored, supported and treated by teams of highly skilled doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.
Patients are usually sedated or unconscious. They tend to have numerous monitors attached to them. Each patient usually has a dedicated nurse who manages and monitors on a minute-to-minute basis. If there is any difficulty with a patient the doctor is notified and reviews the patient. Even the least ill intensive care pateint will be seen several times per day by the managing doctors.