Types – Special Employees and Conditions in the ICU

00:00 There are different kinds of ICU. There's a General ICU, which will handle pretty much all types of ICU patients. There's a Medical ICU, which manages patients with medical conditions not secondary to surgery. So for instance, renal failure, diabetes, neurologic disease would be handled in a medical ICU. There's Surgical ICU, which manages patients who are very sick and who have had or will need surgery. And they may be come after surgery or actually being prepared for surgery.

00:34 There's Cardiac Surgical ICUs, which usually are managed by cardiac anesthesiologists and care for patients after open heart surgery. There are Neurologic Intensive Care Units, primarily for patients with head injuries or serious neurologic conditions, which are handled primarily by neurosurgeons and intensivists, or neurosurgeons and neurologists.

00:58 There are trauma ICUs for patients with life threatening injuries following trauma. And these can be, are usually handled by either trauma surgeons, and intensivists in partnership.

01:10 And finally, there are Coronary Care Units for patients with ischemic heart disease, which are usually managed by cardiologists.

01:16 In addition, one that I haven't put on the slide, but one that is often considered an ICU, is the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, the PACU, which I discussed in an earlier lecture.