The Intensive Care Unit

Your child may be cared for in a special part of the hospital called the Intensive Care Unit or ICU. There is some basic information that you will need to know about the ICU. This includes knowing:

• who is caring for your child
• what each person does
• how to contact them

A child with a brain injury is often moved to the ICU from the Emergency Department or after surgery. The ICU is designed to give very special care with close monitoring of your child's condition by specially-trained nursing and medical staff. ICUs often include children with other conditions besides brain injury. A child with a brain injury may be in the ICU for:

• close observation
• swelling, bleeding, or other damage to the brain
• coma or lowered alertness
• other injuries
• treatment for complications or infections
• special care after surgery

Hospitals may have different types of ICUs specializing in the care of patients by age or type of medical illness or injury. Special ICUs include:

1. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU): For children up to the age of 21 years
2. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): For newborns, infants, or very young children
3. Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU): For individuals with serious medical illness
4. Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU): For individuals following complicated surgery