The Intensive Care Medicine hast two main aspects of care and nursing of critically ill patients:
- Prompt initiation of artificial organ support ("life-support") in acute life-threatening situations with onset of organ failure (e.g. ventilator therapy for the treatment of acute respiratory failure, haemofiltration or -dialysis for the treatment of renal impairment, vasopressor or catecholamine support during haemodynamic instability), as well as, depending on the capacity,
- the monitoring of patients with borderline impaired organ function in order to avoid the development of multiple organ failure with its disastrous prognosis (i.e. early countersteering in the presence of possible life-threatening situations). The goal of our efforts is to ensure survival of the patients during the critical period of disease.
The technical equipment of an intensive care unit consists in the best case of ventilators, haemofiltration devices, echocardiography (including trans-oesophageal echocardiography), a unit for endoscopic procedures (bronchoscopy, gastroscopy), as well as an ECMO (Extra-Coporal-Membrane-Oxygenation) circuit. Thus, the medical team is able to carry out all important invasive and non-invasive diagnostic and therapeutic measures.