Abstract
The intensive care unit (ICU) is a specially designed, equipped, staffed, furnished separate and self-contained area dedicated to the management of patients with critical and life-threatening illnesses. The designers first of all need to understand how many ICUs are required and how many beds are in each unit. There can be different types of ICUs depending on the severity of the illness to be treated or, otherwise, the ICUs can be designed department-wise. ICUs can be either at a centralized place or anywhere else depending on the type of disease or patient. ICU consists of four major zones: patient care zone, clinical support zone, unit support zone, and family support zone. Each zone consists of spaces for various rooms and services. Designers of the ICU shall well consider the sizes of the rooms in ICUs and also design for doors/windows, furniture, electrical and other points in rooms of ICUs, HVAC, equipment/instruments and tools in ICUs, interiors, signage, and wayfinding.
This set of monitoring tools shall help the planner and designer to remember all such issues relating to the ICU; guide him/her to complete, test, and commission all work/activities; and help him/her ensure the working of these tools before the actual operations of the ICU start.
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Garg, A. (2023). Intensive Care Units (ICUs). In: Monitoring Tools for Setting up The Hospital Project . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6663-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6663-9_4
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