Belgian authors describe a four-bedded ‘shock room’, situated between the ED and the ICU and managed jointly by ED and ICU staff, which is used to stabilise all acutely ill patients in the hospital, whether they are from outside or inside the hospital. 2514 patients were treated in their shock room in 2006, managed by either senior emergency physicians or intensivists, and nurses from both departments. 21.5% were admitted to ED shock room from other wards, and 14.5% were transfers from other hospitals.
Comment: I personally visited this unit in Brussels in 2007 and liked the concept – sick patients in the ED and patients who go off on the wards often have similar needs in terms of skills and equipment. Why not manage them all in the resus room, and have intensivists and emergency physicians working more collaboratively?
A ‘shock room’ for early management of the acutely ill
Anaesth Intensive Care. 2009 May;37(3):426-31