Introduction

The Intensive Care Unit at TQEH is now in its 28th year. In the intervening years, the Unit has grown from 2 dedicated beds in the old recovery room, transferred to a cramped, 10 bed area until 1998, and is now a 14 bed, state-of-the-art facility in the first floor C-wing of the Hospital. The Unit's through put has increased from 260 patients in its first year to the current 650-700 and a total of 14000 patients have been treated. The Unit's medical staffing has increased from a loan practitioner in 1973 to the current complement of 5 full time specialists, one Senior Registrar, four registrars and 2 RMOs providing a 24/7, Level III service to the Northern and Western suburbs of Adelaide.

The Department of Intensive Care Medicine now comprises the Intensive Care Unit, the Hospital and Home Parenteral Nutrition Service, Retrieval Service and an accredited training program for the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists as well as contributing to anaesthetist, surgeon, physician and emergency physician training.

The Department has an extensive research program, regularly contributes to peer-reviewed journals, presents its research at national and international conferences on Intensive Care and regularly participates in international multicentre trials.