Critical care

Our intensive care units (ICUs) are home base for our acute care services to patients facing life-threatening illness or injury. Our multidisciplinary care team works closely with you and your family to get you on the road to recovery. Your care team might include:

 • Intensivists are physicians with additional training in both critical care and another medical specialty. You may be directly under the care of your primary admitting physician or an intensivist who works closely with your primary admitting physician to assure continuity of care as you transition from the ICUs to other units in the hospital. Your intensivist sees you every day  and plays an important role in prescribing treatments and therapies. 

 • Residents are physicians in training. Our ICU is the primary site for Queen’s University’s training program in critical care medicine. Under the direction of the intensivist, the residents lead rounds and oversee procedures and consultations.

 • Registered nurses work closely with you and your family and plays a key role in keeping the communication flowing.

 • Respiratory therapists oversee and adjust breathing machines. Their ability to manage airways and interpret blood tests supplies valuable information to your care team.

 • Pharmacists  advise you and your care team about drug selection and dosage and help you understand the benefits and effects of the medications we prescribe.

 • Social workers  and spiritual care providers provide comfort and information to you and your family in times of crisis.

 • The dietitian works with your team to assure that we meet your nutritional health needs. Your dietitian keeps your team informed about dietary issues.

 • The physiotherapist helps restore function, improve mobility or limit permanent physical disabilities.

 • The volunteers help bring your family into the ICU and provide your visitors with comfort and information.

RACE team

In addition to the ICUs, the Critical Care program includes a RACE (Rapid Assessment of Critical Event) team which is available to help other healthcare team members with critical care needs. The Rapid Assessment of Critical Event team is made up of physicians, registered nurses and respiratory therapists who bring ICU expertise to patients 24 hours a day, no matter where they are in the hospital. Any healthcare team member can call the RACE team if they’re worried about a patient’s airway, breathing, heart beats or level of consciousness.