Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Critical care clinics · Apr 1997
ReviewCritical care in Africa. North to south and the future with special reference to southern Africa.
The medical fraternity in Africa needs to ration resource allocation and aptly apply distributive justice. At present, pockets of Intensive Care Units are held together largely by individuals. Unless the correct assistance and support is provided to develop its vast potential, African Intensive Care will degenerate into primary health care.
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Intensive care medicine developed in Europe following the polio epidemic in Denmark in 1952 and is now a specialty in its own right. Across Europe differences exist between countries regarding unit size, policy, staffing, and patient demographics. ⋯ The United Kingdom appears to be similar to the countries of Southern Europe. Guidelines for training and structure are being developed in an attempt to create more uniformity and improve communication between units.
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This article offers a brief discussion of some of the aspects of clinical and academic realities of critical and intensive care medicine in South America. Organizational efforts of collaborating physician and nursing intensivists from South American countries, Spain, and Portugal are outlined. Discussion includes the issues of funding and support of health care delivery of the critically ill, and some of the clinical syndromes not commonly seen in North America and Europe, but seen by intensivists in South America.
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Critical care clinics · Apr 1997
Review Historical ArticleCritical care in Japan and Korea. The market of excellence.
Medical services in general are well advanced in Japan and Korea. However, intensive and critical care medicine is still on its way to further developments. ⋯ In Korea, the estimated number of ICUs is 122 or more. In Japan, the number of ICUs is estimated to be between 229 and 944.
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Critical care clinics · Apr 1997
Review Historical ArticleIntensive care in Australia and New Zealand. No nonsense "down under".
The year 1996 was the 21st birthday of the Australian and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting on Intensive Care. With this maturity many of the issues that were so troublesome to intensive care in the early years relating to identity, training, recognition, and standards have largely resolved. ⋯ We need to improve the image of a career in intensive care to trainees, expand research opportunities, and respond to the ever-changing challenges coming from administrative reorganization, budgeting constraints, and increasing public expectations. I believe the foundations have been well laid to ensure a continuing contribution by Australian and New Zealand intensivists to clinical intensive care, their hospitals, ANZICS, and a place in the global research effort in intensive care.