Hillman Ken
Department of Intensive Care, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Curr Opin Crit Care. 2002 Dec;8(6):594-9. doi: 10.1097/00075198-200212000-00019.
Critical care medicine is a relatively young specialty that was developed in response to potentially reversible life-threatening illness and was facilitated by developments such as new drugs, support equipment, and monitoring technology. It has been largely practiced within the four walls of an intensive care unit (ICU). However, now there are increasing numbers of critically ill and at-risk patients in acute hospitals who are suffering potentially preventable, serious complications that may result in death because of a lack of appropriate systems, skills, and expertise outside of the ICU. Critical care specialists are expanding their roles beyond the four walls of their ICUs and becoming involved with strategies such as the medical emergency team, a concept designed to recognize critical illness early and to respond rapidly to resuscitate patients wherever they are in the hospital.
重症医学是一个相对年轻的专业领域，它是为应对潜在可逆的危及生命的疾病而发展起来的，并且受到新药、支持设备和监测技术等发展的推动。它主要在重症监护病房（ICU）内开展。然而，现在急性医院中有越来越多的重症和高危患者，他们正遭受着潜在可预防的严重并发症，这些并发症可能因ICU之外缺乏适当的系统、技能和专业知识而导致死亡。重症医学专家正在将他们的角色扩展到ICU之外，并参与诸如医疗应急团队等策略，这一概念旨在早期识别重症疾病，并在患者于医院任何位置时迅速做出反应以对其进行复苏。
