- Section 1 Patients and their treatment
- Section 2 Background to medicine
- Section 3 Cell biology
- Section 4 Immunological mechanisms
- Section 5 Principles of clinical oncology
- Section 6 Old age medicine
- Section 7 Pain and palliative care
- Section 8 Infectious diseases
- Section 9 Sexually transmitted diseases
- Section 10 Environmental medicine, occupational medicine, and poisoning
- Section 11 Nutrition
- Section 12 Metabolic disorders
- Section 13 Endocrine disorders
- Section 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- Section 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- Section 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- Section 17 Critical care medicine
- 17.1 The seriously ill or deteriorating patient
- 17.2 Cardiac arrest
- 17.3 Anaphylaxis
- 17.4 Assessing and preparing patients with medical conditions for major surgery
- 17.5 Acute respiratory failure
- 17.6 Circulation and circulatory support in the critically ill
- 17.7 Management of raised intracranial pressure
- 17.8 Sedation and analgesia in the ICU
- 17.9 Metabolic and endocrine changes in acute and chronic critical illness
- 17.10 Palliative and end-of-life care in the ICU
- 17.11 Diagnosis of death and organ donation
- 17.12 Persistent problems and recovery after critical illness
- Section 18 Respiratory disorders
- Section 19 Rheumatological disorders
- Section 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- Section 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- Section 22 Haematological disorders
- Section 23 Disorders of the skin
- Section 24 Neurological disorders
- Section 25 Disorders of the eye
- Section 26 Psychiatric and drug-related disorders
- Section 27 Forensic medicine
- Section 28 Sport and exercise medicine
- Section 29 Biochemistry in medicine
- Section 30 Acute medicine
(p. 3827) Critical care medicine
The first step in the clinical approach to a patient who is very ill is the recognition of this fact. While experienced clinicians will intuitively recognize a seriously ill or deteriorating patient, a large body of data has demonstrated that warning signs are often missed or not acted upon, resulting in preventable harm to patients. This has led to the development and adoption of ‘track and trigger’ systems. Track and trigger systems aim to ensure that hospitalized patients undergo regular review and objective observation, with abnormal observation or staff concerns being triggers to escalate care. Escalated care may be urgent review by the treating team, or the calling of a ‘rapid response team’ to attend to a more critically ill patient. While calling criteria and team composition varies from country to country, the principle of rapidly taking skilled care to critically ill patients remains the unifying underlying principle.
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- Section 1 Patients and their treatment
- Section 2 Background to medicine
- Section 3 Cell biology
- Section 4 Immunological mechanisms
- Section 5 Principles of clinical oncology
- Section 6 Old age medicine
- Section 7 Pain and palliative care
- Section 8 Infectious diseases
- Section 9 Sexually transmitted diseases
- Section 10 Environmental medicine, occupational medicine, and poisoning
- Section 11 Nutrition
- Section 12 Metabolic disorders
- Section 13 Endocrine disorders
- Section 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- Section 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- Section 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- Section 17 Critical care medicine
- 17.1 The seriously ill or deteriorating patient
- 17.2 Cardiac arrest
- 17.3 Anaphylaxis
- 17.4 Assessing and preparing patients with medical conditions for major surgery
- 17.5 Acute respiratory failure
- 17.6 Circulation and circulatory support in the critically ill
- 17.7 Management of raised intracranial pressure
- 17.8 Sedation and analgesia in the ICU
- 17.9 Metabolic and endocrine changes in acute and chronic critical illness
- 17.10 Palliative and end-of-life care in the ICU
- 17.11 Diagnosis of death and organ donation
- 17.12 Persistent problems and recovery after critical illness
- Section 18 Respiratory disorders
- Section 19 Rheumatological disorders
- Section 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- Section 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- Section 22 Haematological disorders
- Section 23 Disorders of the skin
- Section 24 Neurological disorders
- Section 25 Disorders of the eye
- Section 26 Psychiatric and drug-related disorders
- Section 27 Forensic medicine
- Section 28 Sport and exercise medicine
- Section 29 Biochemistry in medicine
- Section 30 Acute medicine