What Conditions Are Treated Through Intensive Care & TeleICU?

When you or a loved one need extra care and monitoring, you will be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. In intensive care at Banner Health, you will be monitored 24 hours a day by specially trained doctors, nurses and staff. There are a number serious medical conditions which may lead to intensive care, including heart, lung, brain, trauma and surgery.

TeleICU is Extra Layer of Care for ICU Patients

Patients at many of our Banner Health hospitals also benefit from an additional layer of care provided by the advanced technology called TeleICU.

This advanced technology enhances the care and safety of critically ill patients by teaming our on-site medical staff with intensive-care specialists who follow your care from a remote monitoring center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With the TeleICU monitoring system, data such as patient information, vital signs, laboratory results and X-rays from the sickest hospital patients are fed to an off-site team of intensive-care physician specialists and critical-care nurses.

Frequently Asked Questions About Intensive Care & TeleICU

When Is an ICU Necessary?

There are a number of conditions and injuries that can lead to the need for intensive care:

• Heart problems, including very high or low blood pressure, abnormal heart beats, or a heart attack.
• Lung problems, including asthma, severe pneumonia, or pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung). Difficulty breathing so severe the patient may need a machine to help or take over breathing until the problem is corrected.
• Imbalance of salts, chemicals, or minerals in the bloodstream.
• Severe brain injuries, including bleeding, stroke and head trauma, or coma.
• Severe trauma - such as auto accidents, gunshot wounds and burns. These patients may have multiple injuries that require specialized treatment and monitoring.
• Major surgery - Patients undergoing major surgery, who need special monitoring or who are at high risk of having problems after the operation.

What treatments are available to me in intensive care?

The ICU is different from other hospital units because it features advanced equipment to provide your special care. This equipment includes:

• Monitors for heart rate, blood pressure, breathing
• Intravenous (IV) tubes
• Feeding tubes
• Catheters
• Breathing machines

How does TeleICU work?

Intensive care specialists based at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, can watch over you with telemedicine cameras in your room so they can see you and monitor changes in your condition. This 2-way, audiovisual communication system allows the TeleICU staff to see and speak directly with you in your room. If a change is detected, the specialists at off-site work with your medical team to help determine what is the best plan for your care.

This high-tech, centralized patient safety net provides another set of watchful eyes to provide proactive care by constantly checking early warning indicators for any sign of trouble. If a change is detected, the off-site TeleICU specialists communicate directly with the bedside care teams to help determine what you need.

Be assured that your doctor in the hospital directs your care, but now has a new partner through the off-site intensive care experts.