Current status of critical care medicine and its future / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To reviewing the developmental history and to make an overall inquiry of the status quo of critical care medicine(CCM)in China,in order to make suggestions regarding the future development of this subspecialty in this country,particularly in the army forces.Methods Relevant articles regarding this subspecialty were retrieved from the published literature,and important events as well as advances in this field were reviewed to illustrate the history of establishment of intensive care unit(ICU),important events in the development,and academic advances in this subspecialty in this country and especially in the army forces.Results The review illustrated that this subspecialty of medical science had made a big stride in the past thirty years,and it has become one of the major forces in the medical arena in this country.The change in stratification of patients as a whole,further fragmentation of medical discipline,experiences obtained from participation in the care of mass casualties in multiple disasters,concerted efforts made by specialists devoted to this field of medicine,as well as strong support from the administration had given tremendous impetus to an upsurge of this subspecialty. In this army forces,this subspecialty had advanced in pace with that in the whole country.The inauguration of Military Association of CCM had further pushed forward the science and arts of CCM in the armed forces.Nevertheless,there are still many important problems in this field to be investigated.Conclusions The administration should give more support and advices for development of this important medical subspecialty in the armed forces,in order to further raise the standard of the arts and science of this branch of medical science to face any challenge in the care of serious illnesses and injuries encountered both in peace time and in combats.It is also important to propagate the perception of CCM in the medical establishments of grassroots level.