The Medical City ERICU Program is a comprehensive approach of interventions that the hospital provides to all patients admitted in the critical care units. The primary goal of ERICU is to prevent the onset of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) and the complications brought about by prolonged immbolization, especially in patients who require life-support therapy. It is a rehabilitation program composed of chest physical therapy, occupational therapy, conditioning and range of motion exercises that would allow patients to start regaining their strength even while they are still in the ICU. This program is carried out by a team of highly-skilled and trained specialists: critical care specialists, pulmonologists, physiatrists, medical residents, nurses, and physical and respiratory therapists.
Basic Rehabilitation Program
— Chest Physical Therapy: treatments to improve breathing and to strengthen one's respiratory muscles
— Conditioning Exercises or Range of Motion Exercises: a series of passive and active exercises to improve the movement of one's joints
Progression of Program — depending on the patient's medical condition, he will be guided in doing various sitting and standing positions that will prepare him in performing his daily activities
Adjunct to Basic Rehabilitation Program — muscle stimulation and pain relief are also conducted through the use of electrotherapy and thermal agents
What are the benefits of the ERICU Program?
Early rehabilitation in patients strives to ensure better outcomes and to empower patients in regaining their strength even after being in critical conditions. By participating in the ERICU Program, a patient could get the following benefits:
Reduced hospital and ICU length of stay and hospital costs
Shortened duration of medical ventilation
Have faster recovery
Be eligible for earlier extubation
Prevent deconditioning and debilitation
Develop fewer bedsores
Avoid Deep Venous Thrombosis or DVT (a formation of blood clot in the leg vain)
How does one participate in the ERICU Program?
All patients who are admitted to the ICU will be assessed upon admission and on a daily basis to check for indications and the absence of contraindications to the ERICU Program. As soon as the patient is assessed as ready, they are referred to the program. These are the contraindications which should be resolved prior to inclusion to the ERICU:
Heart rate <40 or>130
Blood pressure Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) <60 or>110mmHg
Oxygen saturation <90%< /p>
Positivity End Experatory Pressure (PEEP) > 10
Respiratory Rate > 40 beats per minute
Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) score: -4, -5, -3 (unarousable or in deep sedation, very agitated or combative)
Body temperature between <35 or>38.6
High inotrope doses of:
— Dopamine - 10 microgram/kilogram/minute
— Norepinephrine - 0.1 microgram/kilogram/minute
In The Medical City, it is always our hope to assist patients on their road to recovery. Through early rehabilitation provided by the ERICU Program, patients are not only set to survive, but also to thrive.