Lotus Children's Hospital

PICU

Emergency

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

With the increasing scope of intensive care in pediatric practice and the advent of new technology, and tools, Pediatric Intensive Care has emerged as one of the most demanding, highly specialized and labour intensive subspecialty. Our PICU caters to the needs of children beyond one month of age and up to the age of sixteen years.

Children with critical illness, life threatening diseases and conditions, multiple injuries (trauma) sustained either through accidents, or diseases involving multiple vital organ systems are cared for in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Critical care for children requires a thorough knowledge base of the various serious diseases affecting different age groups of children, prioritizing care and executing appropriate diagnostic tests and treatment in a timely fashion. Delay in diagnosis and treatment could have disastrous consequences.

All beds in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit are equipped with facilities to use ventilators (also called as 'respirators' or 'artificial breathing machines'), electronic monitoring of crucial life vital signs on a continuous basis (second to second) such as: heart rate, blood pressures (both invasive and non invasive) respiratory rate and temperature monitoring. Each bed is equipped with infusion pumps and devices to pump medications and fluids continuously in variable quantities which are adjusted according to the needs of the patient.

Intensive care for critically ill children requires a high degree of skills both from the pediatric intensivists as well as the nursing staff who need to detect subtle changes (warning signals) in various life functions during the stay in the ICU. Picking up warning signals early is essential in managing such children where the margin of safety is very narrow. Appropriate interventions or treatment at this early stage prevents worsening of the child's condition and helps reduce the stay in the intensive care unit.

High intensity procedure lights mounted on the ceiling (probably the first PICU in the country to have this facility) help our consultants and surgeons perform delicate and crucial procedures during the stay of the child in our ICU. The 24 hour availability of carefully selected and highly skilled nursing staff in the PICU ensures a uniform and high standard of care at any given time. All necessary surgical and medical instruments are available in the PICU enabling the performance of critical care and minor surgical procedures at the bedside.

Our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is equipped to deal with any pediatric emergency and any complication arising from the disease processes of children admitted in the unit. Facilities such as Dialysis for (kidney) renal failure, drugs to improve heart pumping function, and the availability of other sub specialists support like Neurology (with bedside EEG, EMG and Nerve Conduction Study testing capability), Cardiology (with bedside Echocardiography ), Radiology (with bedside X - ray, ultrasound scanning and Doppler facility), Neurosurgery (with facilities of invasive intra cranial pressure monitoring), ENT (with bedside Tracheostomy) and Pediatric Surgery makes our unit unique and on par with those in developed countries.

The PICU at Lotus can accommodate ten children and is uniquely designed to allow excellent visual contact with patients by our trained nursing staff, as well as to allow the free movement of diagnostic equipment to the bedside with ample space. All beds are designated for Level 3 Critical Care (artificial breathing and heart and blood pressure support) and have integrated equipment.

An Emergency 'Crash Cart' is available in a designated area of the PICU. The cart is equipped with all necessary equipment and accessories and 'ready to administer drugs' loaded in syringes for dealing with any dire emergency for the sick child.

A two way communication system is installed for direct counseling of families across the viewing gallery. The PICU at Lotus is probably the first in the country to incorporate ceiling mounted television sets for children to watch their favorite programs while recovering from serious illness.

The central oval shaped nursing station is equipped with computers linked to the hospital information system. Nursing staff can place orders for materials for patients 'online', as well as view laboratory test reports instantly. This enables a smooth and speedy delivery of service as crucial decisions can be made by our intensivists without waiting for the final printed report.

Access to the PICU is strictly controlled with videophone and magnetic lock system.

Nursing care

The prime reason for successful outcome of virtually all critically ill children in our PICU is the excellent work and support of our nursing staff. All the nurses posted in the PICU are highly trained and undergo regular in-house training and refresher programmes which include Pediatric Advanced Life Support [PALS course].

Parent Counseling Room

One of the highlights of our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is the regular and detailed counseling of the parents and family of all children admitted in the PICU. On a daily basis, at a scheduled time, the Pediatric Intensivists meet with the parents in a special counseling room and explain the medical condition of their child / ward in simple layman's terms. Information is given about the current working or confirmed diagnosis of the child, along with the current medical condition, including the status of function of various vital organ systems, the results of tests from the previous day, and the plan of management : both immediate and long term in simple terms which parents can understand. This personalized attention and time given by our consultants regularly allays the fears the parents they have about their child, clarify all doubts and questions and allows them to ask questions to fully understand their child's illness and the stage of illness. Any surgical procedures, invasive procedures are also explained sometimes with the help of simple diagrams and informed written consent obtained as and when necessary by our consultants and pediatricians.

Viewing Gallery

We at Lotus understand the emotions of parents and the family when their child / children are admitted in our ICU's. We also believe in involving the parents and family in the care of their newborns and children. To enable the family to see their child at very close quarters, without entering highly sterile patient care zones, we have provided an extensive viewing gallery all around the NICU and the PICU. What is more unique is the provision of a two way communication phone system which nurses and the family can use across the glass barrier to communicate !

This is probably the ONLY children's hospital in India to provide virtually close quarters access for parents and family to directly view their sick child and talk to the medical and nursing staff inside the ICU's.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Medical Team