sade082

This post was originally published on January 29, 2008. It is part of the classics of the RT Cave collection. While some of this is outdated, most of it is not. So, in our quest to become more well rounded therapists, we must now look into another common condition, a condition that is the leading cause of death in critical care units. For starters, we need to know that is is the leading cause of death in critical care units. Of the 750,000 patients it effects every year, 250,000 will die. These statistics cannot, and are not, being ignored. Hospitals continue to work overtime to create guidelines to help caregivers both recognize and diagnose sepsis so those who have it can get the treatment they need. Likewise, efforts can be made to recognize who is at risk for developing sepsis so it can be prevented. These statistics have gone pretty much unchanged since the early 1980s. So, even with modern knowledge and technology, hospitals have been unable to break this trend. Yet they are,...

This post was originally published on January 29, 2008. It is part of the classics of the RT Cave collection. While some of this is outdated, most of it is not. So, in our quest to become more well rounded therapists, we must now look into another common condition, a condition that is the leading cause of death in critical care units. For starters, we need to know that is is the leading cause of death in critical care units. Of the 750,000 patients it effects every year, 250,000 will die. These statistics cannot, and are not, being ignored. Hospitals continue to work overtime to create guidelines to help caregivers both recognize and diagnose sepsis so those who have it can get the treatment they need. Likewise, efforts can be made to recognize who is at risk for developing sepsis so it can be prevented. These statistics have gone pretty much unchanged since the early 1980s. So, even with modern knowledge and technology, hospitals have been unable to break this trend. Yet they are,...

Classics of the RT Cave. This post was originally published March 18, 2008. First off, I worked a bunch of years in the hospital setting before I had a clue what DIC was. I had observed the symptoms many times. I remember many patients, most of them on ventilators, who seemed to be seeping fluid from their pores. Yet I heeded this condition little attention, mainly because I was a newer RT who was intently focused on getting my own work done. Then one day I remember one of our senior therapists told me in report she told the nurses to keep a particular close watch on this trauma patient because he was at high risk for DIC and ARDS. It later turned out she was right, and the patient developed both ARDS and DIC. So, it did not pass me by how this senior was correct in her prediction. I was curious to know what she knew. So I asked her, and she said, "Do some research on DIC, and then get back to me. Do a Google search." She paused, then added, "I think that all therapists ...