The Heart Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital recently unveiled a state-of-the-art Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) to care for the most critically ill cardiac patients. From newborns to young adults, the 12-bed unit provides every patient and family a private room.
The unit was designed specifically for the acute management of children with pediatric cardiac disease and the preoperative and postoperative surgical care of cardiac patients. Full-term infants who are prenatally diagnosed with a heart condition but have no other neonatal issues also are cared for in the unit.
Take a virtual tour of the CICU
Availability of the new CICU makes cardiac care even more sub-specialized at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. CICUs improve the delivery of quality critical care, providing for more efficient use of cardiac resources.
Twenty-four hour parental presence is encouraged on the unit. Referring physicians calling to check on patient status will be put in touch with the unit’s charge nurse.
Contact the CICU by calling 314.454.4960 or 888.545.9304.
CICU Features:
- Latest technology for patient monitoring
- Newest generation of ventilators
- Specialized, portable boom in each room equipped with complete functionality, including oxygen and vacuum
- Computerized documentation
- Individual nursing alcoves outside each room
- CICU rooms serve as operative suites; any emergency or post-operative surgery can be conducted
- Full-service ECMO for mechanical support
- *New Interventional Radiology suite adjacent to CICU will enable cardiac imaging on unit (opening in 2008)
Staff
Fully staffed with a complete critical care team, CICU physicians include intensivists, cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons dedicated to the care of critically ill children. The unit’s nursing staff is highly trained to care for these patients and have participated in advanced cardiac nursing education modules including care of the ECMO patient population.
Dr. Allan Doctor, director of critical care services [video: WMV | QT]
Dr. Paul Checchia, medical director [video: WMV | QT]
Dr. Charles Huddleston, director of cardiothoracic surgery [video: WMV | QT]
Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, cardiothoracic surgeon [video: WMV | QT]
Jeff Atwood, RN, nurse manager [video: WMV | QT]
Kym Galbraith, RN, assistant nurse manager [video: WMV | QT]