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Tribune News Network
Doha
The Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU) at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) cares for around 600 patients each year, according to Dr Talat Chughtai, director of Trauma Intensive Care Unit.
He said a multidisciplinary team of experts who are specially trained in the care and management of the critically ill and injured, care for the sickest patients treated by the healthcare provider.
He said,"Each year, we receive between 500 and 600 patients in the TICU who have had a traumatic injury and who need the highest level of intensive care. These patients are either directly received from the Trauma Room or after having undergone surgery related to an accident.
"Our staff are among HMC's most experienced medical specialists and nurses and the TICU is fitted with advanced monitoring equipment. On average, patients stay five or six days in the unit, but more complex cases may remain longer, up to several weeks or sometimes even more than a month, based on their injuries and clinical status."
Dr Chughtai, who is a thoracic surgeon from Canada, specialises in trauma and critical care medicine.
Most patients admitted to the TICU have suffered multiple injuries.
According to Dr Chughtai, who is also a senior consultant with the Trauma Surgery Section at HMC, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and chest injuries (specifically lungs) are among the most common injuries seen at the TICU, adding that patients with this type of injury are admitted for neurologic monitoring and management as well as cardio-respiratory support and monitoring.
He said many of the patients treated at the unit also have abdominal, facial bone, spine and orthopaedic injuries.
According to him, since established, the purpose-built TICU has provided advanced care to thousands of critically-ill patients.
He said the TICU, which is the only one of its kind in the country, and perhaps even the region, is an essential part of the Hamad Trauma Center and has significantly improved the care provided to patients with critical injuries since it was established in 2007.
He said HMC has received the Trauma Distinction Award of Excellence from Accreditation Canada International, becoming the first trauma organisation in the world (outside of Canada) to earn this recognition.
"Blunt trauma, specifically road traffic injuries, including motor vehicle collisions and pedestrians hit by vehicles, are a major cause of death and disability among young people in Qatar and the wider Gulf region. The TICU is part of Qatar's only Level 1 Trauma Center, which is led by Dr Hassan al Thani. We care for some of the sickest patients treated at HMC. In addition to providing the very best medical care, our teams also provide emotional support for patients' families and work with the larger trauma system to deliver a full range of specialised care for Qatar's most severely injured patients," said Dr Chughtai.
In 2016 the TICU was relocated to the first floor of a new Surgical Services Building (which includes state-of-the-art operating theatres on the ground floor). The move increased the unit's capacity from 12 beds to 19 and was part of a larger expansion effort that included the establishment of an integrated surgery centre.
The TICU is staffed by a team of 40 physicians, over one hundred nurses and dozens of allied health professionals, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and dietitians.
