Critical Care at Redlands Community Hospital

Comprehensive Medical Services for Patients in Critical Condition

When you or a loved one are transferred to critical care, it means that your condition requires immediate attention and constant monitoring. While this is understandably a frightening experience, remember that hospitals outfit these units with the latest in life-saving medical technology and staff them with critical care experts so that patients have access to every resource they need to pull through this incident.

At Redlands Community Hospital, our critical care department consists of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Definitive Observation Unit (DOU) as well as our Rapid Assessment Team. With these life-saving features at our disposal, we can provide you or your loved one with the attentive, outstanding level of care you deserve.

ICU

Our ICU is a 12 bed unit with private rooms. Each room is equipped with electrocardiogram and hemodynamic monitoring capabilities, allowing us to keep track of any changes in a patient’s blood flow or organ functions. Three ICU trained physicians, also called Intensivist Physicians, care for patients in this unit along with a Medical Director who remains available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for both clinical and administrative matters.

In the ICU, our nurses and Intensivists can quickly respond to any life-threatening changes in a patient’s condition, including cardiac arrest or seizures. Intensive care can be a busy and sometimes noisy area, but for patients with conditions that can take a turn at a moment’s notice, this is the safest place for them. Our team will be able to assist you or a loved one if you are having trouble resting while staying in the ICU.

Telemetry

Telemetry is the process of monitoring a patient’s vitals through the use of wireless signals. Patients are typically transferred to the Telemetry unit if they have suffered or at risk of suffering a cardiac event such as a heart attack.

Patients are often transferred to the telemetry unit when patients:

• Have an unstable angina
• Require a permanent pacemaker implant
• Need frequent respiratory therapy services
• Are hemodynamically stable and require a ventilator
• Require drugs to manage blood pressure or cardiac dysrhythmias
• Are diabetic and require an insulin drip

The Rapid Assessment Team

When a patient’s condition begins to decline unexpectedly, their caretakers need to quickly determine the severity of the incident and possible causes so they can intervene. This is the purpose of the Rapid Assessment Team. Consisting of a Critical Care registered nurse, respiratory therapist, hospitalist, and Intensivist, the Rapid Assessment Team is specially trained to evaluate a patient's condition and begin treatment. Thanks to this team, we have been able to perform lifesaving procedures on patients who suddenly suffer from cardiac arrests and other serious medical events.