According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, critical care is the sophisticated medical and nursing care provided to patients facing life-threatening illness or injury. An estimated 80 percent of all Americans will experience critical care as the patient or family or friend of a patient during their lifetime.

Critical care is provided to patients by an integrated team of board-certified specialists, residents, nurses, respiratory therapists and others. Settings for this care include the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the Medical ICU and the Respiratory ICU. In addition, depending on fluctuating need, other areas provide transitional care for those patients who no longer require critical care in the ICU but who have not yet sufficiently recovered to allow routine, inpatient care.