Fresh Approach for Critically Ill Patients with Time-sensitive Needs.

To meet the needs of critically ill patients with time-sensitive needs, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) created the Critical Care Resuscitation Unit (CCRU), a six-bed, short-stay ICU designed to accelerate care to resource-heavy patients who require immediate evaluation and treatment. The CCRU is modeled after UMMC's trauma resuscitation unit, but with resources and staff geared toward non-trauma, critically ill patients, many of whom require life-saving care. The unit is largely staffed by emergency providers who have undergone additional training in critical care. In place at UMMC since July 2013, the CCRU has enabled UMMC to accommodate many more incoming critically ill patients than it has in the past. In its first year of operation, critically ill transfer patients increased more than 64%. Investigators also observed reduced hospital length of stay for these patients, and they noted trends toward lower mortality. Before the creation of the CCRU, developers say that care of critically ill patients often was delayed because there was no space available in an appropriate ICU. Patients admitted to the CCRU present with a wide range of complex critical care needs that require immediate attention, such as ruptured blood vessels, aortic dissections, strokes requiring neuro interventional radiologic procedures, and aneurysmal bleeds. Developers have streamlined the transfer process so that appropriate care can commence even before patients arrive in the CCRU.