The Future of Critical Care
The origins of critical care or the intensive care unit can be traced back to Copenhagen in the 1950s when doctors and nurses were grappling with the devastating effects of polio. At this time, the main way to treat patients suffering from respiratory failure as a result of the disease was via an iron lung, a mechanical respirator that stimulates breathing. Copenhagen had only one iron lung in the whole city — nowhere near enough to treat the estimated 6-12 people arriving at the hospital daily with respiratory failure.
Clinicians knew they had to come up with a new strategy to reduce the mortality rate, which was primarily affecting children. An anaesthetist by the name of Bjørn Ibsen proposed a new technique to help patients breathe. The procedure he invented — blowing directly into the lungs rather than creating a vacuum around the body that forced the lungs to expand — ultimately became the modern-day ventilator. During Ibsen’s time, the ventilator was very rudimentary and had to be controlled manually, bringing together hundreds of medical students who kept patients alive through round-the-clock ventilation.
This concept of physically grouping patients together who required the same level of constant, life-saving care was the origins of the modern ICU ward. Today, countless patients of critical care in Australia are treated using a ventilator, surrounded by patients in a similar condition. Of course, the critical care unit has come a considerable way in the past 70 years. Innovative technology has completely transformed how we treat patients for the better.
Critical care today
Today, a critical care unit looks nothing like the first efforts all those years ago. Patients rely on a variety of healthcare equipment to provide life-giving care, from infusion pumps to EKG machines.
The very nature of critical care patients means they are usually unable to ingest nutrients orally. This can be due to injury sustained to the mouth and jaw or the patient may be unconscious. In these situations, patients typically rely on enteral feeding to receive food. Paragon Care offers a complete range of oral nutrition and enteral feeding products to meet the needs of all patients and clinicians.
Infusion therapy is another common therapeutic invention for ICU patients. Patients who cannot receive medication orally benefit from this approach as do those who require medication in a controlled fashion. Patients admitted to the ICU ward are often extremely dehydrated — in this situation, intravenous fluids can be life-saving.
The risk of healthcare associated infection in a critical care ward is reasonably high, with many patients recovering from surgery or critical injury. Paragon Care’s range of hospital grade disinfection products mitigate this risk, protecting both patients and clinicians alike.
Naturally, patients admitted to the critical care ward are often in significant pain. Anaesthesia is required, as is anaesthesia delivery systems, needle guides, and speciality covers to reduce the risk of infection.
All of these products and more are included within Paragon Care’s comprehensive critical care healthcare equipment portfolio. For more specific information and guidance, healthcare professionals are encouraged to submit a product information request today.
Looking to the future of critical care
When we look back to where critical care started, it’s clear that we can expect intensive care to look quite different in the next decade or two.
Artificial intelligence, for example, is expected to have a substantial impact on how patients are treated. Monitoring devices will become more sensitive and provide early alerts to changes in a patient’s condition. As is the case with many industries, data is becoming an increasingly valuable asset within healthcare and may be able to one day predict how a patient will respond to treatment. Clinicians will be able to make timelier, more informed decisions, which is certainly a positive thing.
The Covid-19 pandemic put significant pressure in intensive care units. Lessons learnt over the past two years will no doubt help clinicians better triage patients and cope with unforeseen surges. This is particularly important as the instances of global pandemics are expected to only increase due to globalisation and the effects of climate change.
Ultimately, the future of critical care in Australia will likely see more tailored and less invasive care as we learn more about how patients respond to treatment and develop healthcare equipment that can perform life-saving functions at minimal intrusion.