Guidelines for the utilisation of intensive care units

Members of the Task Force:
J.L. Vicent (Belgium), chairman; A. Artigas (Spain); D. Bihari (UK), R.B. Carrington da Costa (Portugal); D. Edwards (UK); P. Ferdinande (Belgium); G. Iapicino (Italy); M. Larny (Belgium); P. Loirat (France); D. Miranda (The Netherlands); M. Munoz-Sanchez (Spain); J. Papadatos (Greece); K. Reinhart (Germany); P. Suter (Switzerland); J. Takala (Finland); L.G. Thijs (The Netherlands); S. Vesconi (Italy); S. Willatts (UK)

The intesive care unit

1. An Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a geographically defined area in the hospital providing care for critically ill patients with specialized personnel and complex equipment.

Whilst an ICU may exist as part of another department, ideally there should be an autonomous department of intensive care, treating all acutely ill patients of the hospital. An ICU provides extensive evaluation and monitoring, and access to sophisticated and comprehensive treatment. The ICU should have easy access to the emergency room, the operating rooms, laboratory and imaging facilities. An ICU groups: