Critical care clinics
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Critical care clinics · Jan 2009
Historical ArticlePreparedness lessons from modern disasters and wars.
Disasters come in all shapes and forms, and in varying magnitudes and intensities. Nevertheless, they offer many of the same lessons for critical care practitioners and responders. Among these, the most important is that well thought out risk assessment and focused planning are vital. ⋯ This article discusses risk assessment and planning in the context of disasters. The article also elaborates on the progress toward the creation of portable, credible, sustainable, and sophisticated critical care outside the walls of an intensive care unit. Finally, the article summarizes yields from military-civilian collaboration in disaster planning and response.
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Critical care clinics · Jan 2009
Historical ArticleCardiopulmonary resuscitation: from the beginning to the present day.
Cardiac arrest represents a dramatic event that can occur suddenly and often without premonitory signs, characterized by sudden loss of consciousness and breathing after cardiac output ceases and both coronary and cerebral blood flows stop. Restarting of the blood flow by cardiopulmonary resuscitation potentially re-establishes some cardiac output and organ blood flows. This article summarizes the major events that encompass the history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, beginning with ancient history and evolving into the current American Heart Association's commitment to save hearts.
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Critical care clinics · Jan 2009
Historical ArticleEvolution of the intensive care unit as a clinical center and critical care medicine as a discipline.
This article discusses the history of the ICU and critical care medicine (CCM). It also discusses the certification of critical care nurses and allied health professionals, as well as CCM societies and congresses, education and board certification, evidence-based CCM, research and publications, and future challenges to the field.
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Infectious disease has been a leading cause of death in humans since the first recorded tabulations. From Hippocrates and Galen, to Lister, Fleming and Semmelweiss, this article reviews the notable historical figures of sepsis research. The early descriptions and theories about the etiology (microbial pathogens), pathogenesis (toxins and mediators), and treatment of sepsis-associated disease are also discussed.
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This article reviews the development of early ideas regarding the origins and pathogenesis of shock. The early history of shock is related primarily to traumatic shock. More recent history centers on differentiation of clinical syndromes and individual characteristics. ⋯ Progress has been aided by constant development of improved assessment technologies. Today, shock is not a single syndrome and the definition of shock no longer is descriptive in nature. The most accepted current definition involves an oxygen supply/demand imbalance that can have various causes-hypovolemia, cardiac dysfunction, vascular failure, or obstructive processes.