Medicina intensiva
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The clinical care of hospitalized seriously ill patients must be suitably proportionate independently of the functional unit to which they have been admitted. Most of these patients are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where uninterrupted management is provided, with important technological and care resources. However, hospitalization of the seriously ill patient must be understood as a continuum starting and ending beyond hospital stay. ⋯ In this context, our ICU has established two strategic lines. One consists of the identification of patients at risk outside the Unit and is based on the recognition, diagnostic orientation and early treatment of the seriously ill patient, in collaboration with other clinical specialties and independently of the hospital area to which the patient has been admitted. The second line in turn comprises clinical care within the actual Unit, and is based on the promotion of safety and the vigilance of nosocomial infections.
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Early warning systems (EWS) identify patients at risk with a view to improving morbidity and mortality rates using early therapeutic and transfer actions. We have recently implemented an EWS that focuses on two main aspects: the guidance of care after discharge from the ICU, and recognition of the onset of deteriorating health among adult patients in general wards through physiologically based early warning scores.