Intensive Care Unit

Clinical service overview

The Alfred ICU provides statewide services for:

• Heart & lung transplantation (including paediatric lung transplantation)
• Artificial heart technology
• Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
• Burns
• Hyperbaric medicine

It also provides Victoria's Adult Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Hypertension services.

The Alfred is one of two centres providing state services for adult trauma, HIV and bone marrrow transplantation (autologous and allogeneic).

The Haemophilia, Haemostasis and Thrombosis Service is the only adult service in the state of Victoria caring for patients with haemophilia and other severe bleeding disorders. It is accredited as a training site by the World Federation of Haemophilia.

The patients in ICU are divided into three pods, each pod being managed during each day by an ICU consultant, a senior registrar, a junior registrar and a resident who provide medical care within the ICU .

A separate ICU consultant and senior registrar coordinate all referrals to the ICU, attend medical emergency calls throughout the hospital and in conjunction with the ICU Liaison Nurse review patients who have recently been discharged from the ICU. This team is also responsible for trauma calls and managing critically ill patients in the emergency department and operating theatre recovery. They also attend the daily bed management meeting and the weekly cardiac conference and cardiothoracic meeting.

A further team consisting of a consultant, two senior registrars and three junior registrars manages patients overnight with ICU Liaison Nurse coverage being available until midnight.

For more information, visit the ICU website.