The medical intensive care unit of Rashid Hospital was commissioned in 1998. The MICU is a closed multidisciplinary unit with a 30-bed capacity for critical cases with the possibility of adding an extra three beds in disaster situations. There are approximately 10 beds dedicated to chronic ventilator-dependent patients and six rooms are equipped with both negative as well as positive pressure isolation technology. There are approximately 850-900 admissions per year. The unit has a large trauma volume (approximately 60% of the admissions) and is the major tertiary referral centre for all adult surgical and medical specialties including neurosurgery, trauma, thoracic surgery, gastrointestinal, hematology, cardiology, pulmonary as well as other medical or surgical cases which require dialysis.
The intensive care unit is committed to providing high-level care at a par with international standards. MICU not only provides care to emergency patients requiring intensive care, but is also a tertiary care referral center for patients from different hospitals in Dubai and the northern emirates.
MICU staff includes three consultants certified by the American Boards of Internal Medicine/Pulmonary Medicine/Infectious Disease/Critical Care Medicine. The consultants are on call round-the-clock and are assisted by a senior specialist registrar and two specialist registrars.
The MICU team responds to all cardiac crash calls in Rashid Hospital except for emergency room, coronary care unit and operating theater cases. The MICU team also accompanies critically ill patients who need to travel abroad, via commercial airlines.
- Significant activities and processes performed exclusively by this department:
• Invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation
• Bedside fiberoptic bronchoscopy
• Bedside percutaneous tracheostomy
• Bedside transthoracic and transesophageal ecardiography
• Bedside upper and lower gastroscopy for patients with hemodynamic instability
• Continuous renal replacement therapy
• Peritoneal dialysis
• Plasmapheresis for polyneuropathies and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia
• Invasive and non-invasive cardiac output monitoring
• Monitoring of central venous pressures
• Monitoring of intracranial pressures
• Monitoring of arterial pressures invasively
• Monitoring of intra-abdominal pressure
• Hypo/Hyperthermia management for traumatic brain injury patients
• Insertion and management of patients with chest tubes
- Data Collection and Ongoing Protocols:
• Collection of accurate data on monthly admissions, discharges and mortalities.
• Implementation of several evidence based protocols to improve the outcomes of critically ill patients.
• Traumatic brain injury protocol.
• Head elevation protocol.
• Oral hygiene protocol to reduce the number of ventilator associated pneumonias.
• DVT prophylaxis protocol.
• Prevention of stress ulcer protocol.
• Tight blood sugar control protocol.
• Nursing protocol for enteral nutrition.
• Antibiotic control protocol.
• Nursing protocol for continuous renal replacement therapy.
• Nursing protocol for plasmapheresis.
• Infectious disease related protocols for isolation.