Give an introduction to intensive care ?

Intensive Care Medicine has its origins from the polio epidemic of 1952 in Copenhagen. Patients who suffered respiratory paralysis were ventilated manually by medical students through a tracheostomy. By providing focused attention in a dedicated area of the hospital, mortality was dramatically reduced. Of course, all this came at a price - and there were many patients who did not survive in spite of the time, effort and the money spent. However, this early experience with intensive care is of as much relevance today, in spite of the advancement in technology and accumulated knowledge over the years.

The concept of modern intensive care is to bring all critically ill patients under one roof to a dedicated area of the hospital with equipment to support their vital functions and staff skilled to provide them with the kind of care they require, available round the clock, by the bedside.

However, the clinician should use his discretion in deciding who would benefit from intensive care - this would include patients with a reversible disease process who stand a reasonable chance of getting back to a normal level of function. It would be inappropriate and unethical to use intensive care and life support measures on people who have no reasonable expectation of survival. Doing so would not only result in a long and agonizing dying process for the patient and the family but also consume scarce health care resources.