Although its roots date back to the early decades of the 20^th century, critical care medicine did not emerge as a specialty in medicine until the 1970's. Over the last 30 years or so, the field of critical care medicine has grown tremendously and there is now a solid body of scientific information that forms the foundation for the practice of critical care medicine. But, now as physicians and hospitals around the world focus to an ever greater extend on providing high quality care, the practice of critical care medicine will continue to grow in visibility and importance among clinicians and the general public as well.

This book seeks to identify the trends in critical care medicine that will form the basis for practice over the next ten years. Predicting the future is always risky. Nevertheless, the ideas articulated in this book are likely to serve as a road map for intensivists, hospital administrators and governmental leaders interested in healthcare, as they seek to improve the quality and efficiency of hospital-based services.

Setting the Stage

Setting The Scene
Managing and Leading in Critical Care
Critical Care from 50,000 Feet
Expectations Around Intensive Care - 10 Years On
The Safety and Quality Agenda in Critical Care Medicine
The Challenge of Emerging Infections and Progressive Antibiotic Resistance
Technology Assessment
Trends in Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care in the Next 10 Years
Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Information Technologies 10 Years from Now
The Patient Process as the Basis for the Design of an ICU
Information Technology
Diagnostic Technologies to Assess Tissue Perfusion and Cardiorespiratory Performance
Microcirculatory Distress in Critically Ill Patients: Meaning and Future
Managing Infection: From Agar Plate to Genome Scan
Immunological Monitoring, Functional Genomics and Proteomics
Improving Organ Function
The Profile and Management of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
The Ventilator of Tomorrow
My NeuroICU 10 Years from Now
Disaster Medicine
How Might Critical Care Medicine be Organized and Regulated?
Hospital and Medical School Organization of Critical Care Services
Physician Staffing in the ICU 10 Years from Now
ICU Research- One Decade From Now
Organizing Clinical Critical Care Research and Implementing the Results
Funding and Accounting Systems
Measuring Performance
Ethics and End-of-life Care
Rationing in the ICU: Fear, Fiction and Fact
Training
Training Pathways-Physician and Non-Physician
Simulation Training in Critical Care Medicine
The Critical Care 'Agenda'
The Agenda for the Intensivist
Transforming Adult Critical Care Service Delivery in Ontario.