National
Cleveland Clinic Launches Fully Dedicated International Comprehensive Critical Care Program
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Aug 21, 2008 - 3:30:55 PM

Full-Scale Mobile Intensive Care Unit to Provide Patients Cleveland Clinic Expertise Anywhere in the World

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - CLEVELAND, -- Cleveland Clinic has launched a comprehensive critical care program that provides specialized care by Cleveland Clinic physicians, nurse practitioners and critical care nurses to domestic and international patients through means of mobile intensive care unit, helicopter and fixed-wing jets.

With the launch of this program, Cleveland Clinic can now provide specialized critical care services to an expanded population, allowing patients access to superior medical care from bedside to bedside, no matter their location. Each mission is staffed with tremendous flexibility, dictated by the special needs of each patient.

"Cleveland Clinic continues to put patients first. This expansion allows the initiation of Cleveland Clinic care upon the arrival of our teams and ensures the highest quality of service world wide," said Marc Harrison, M.D., Director of Medical Operations and Associate Chief of Staff, Cleveland Clinic. "While in the air, our team has the full complement of Cleveland Clinic expertise at its disposal via direct communication with the Clinic or back to the referring physician. We provide a seamless transition of care and on-scene initiation of Cleveland Clinic treatment."

The program will offer uninterrupted service for patients via a diverse fleet of vehicles including ground ambulance, helicopter, and two fixed-winged jets. The jets are outfitted to provide comprehensive intensive care during intercontinental transports.

The jets are configurable for virtually every critical care scenario including mechanical ventilation, balloon pump and ECMO. This provides Cleveland Clinic the flexibility of transporting a wide variety of cases from a premature infant to an adult on a heart lung machine. The clinical expertise of the team, coupled with the technology, makes it possible to transport patients who normally would not have the opportunity to travel due to the extreme severity of their condition.

"As one of the leading healthcare institutions in the world it is our responsibility to share our resources with others," said Christopher Manacci, MSN, ACNP, Emergency Services Institute. "This expansion brings Cleveland Clinic care to a patient's bedside worldwide. It is an advanced practice model that is designed to meet the needs of the patient, not one in which the patient must meet the needs of the system. Furthermore, the addition will broaden the resources that will be available for a global response."

The fleet will be stored at Cleveland Clinic with the exception of the two Beechjet 400 medical aircrafts, which will be based at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport. Cleveland Clinic has partnered with AirMed internationally for aviation and logistical support. AirMed will provide the fixed-wing aircraft, as well as the flight and maintenance personnel for the Cleveland Clinic program. www.clevelandclinic.org

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