How an ICU is organized

The ICU has peculiar features and rulescompared to other Hospital departments.

Assistance activities are guaranteed to the patients with no interruption 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: as it happens in the Emergency Department it's not possible to foresee the moment in which there will be the need to offer intensive care to a high-risk person. Therefore it's compulsory to be always ready.

The organisation of the ICU is structured to immediately answer to possible emergencies and "critical events" , when, for instance, a person's vital function might fail; therefore it's necessary for the staff to be always ready to face what happens both inside and outside the hospital.

Furthermore the patients are hospitalised in the ICU when they need a constant control of their heartbeat or other "vital parameters" (body temperature, blood pressure, oxygen delivered to the tissues, ...). In this way, every disorder that might arise will be immediately treated.

Inside an ICU you might have the feeling that a feverish and constant activity is going on.

The wide number of technological devices and displays that contain figures, colours, or produce sounds may be impressive; everything is organised to offer to high-risk patients the best possible treatment so that they can feel better as soon as possible.