Difference Between CCU and ICU
Everyone knows about the different departments of hospitals, but many are unfamiliar with the nuances of these specialties, such as the CCU and ICU. This article identifies the definitions of these units; types of patients who are the primary focus these departments and the equipment they use.
Definitions
ICU stands of Intensive Care Unit and especially meant for those patients who are critically ill. It includes staff that is specially trained for dealing with the patients that are in need of a variety of vital care that is needed by patients.
CCU, on the other hand, stands for the Coronary Care Unit, the Cardiac Care Unit, or Critical Care Unit, according to the hospital. Yet most consider being the CCU unit where patients with a variety of heart problems are treated. Patients in the CCU are admitted there due to arrhythmias, heart failure, the chest pain, or recovering from open-heart surgeries.
Primary focus
The staff of the Intensive Care Unit is specially trained in treating patients with failures of important organs in the body, which may be gastrointestinal, respiratory, cardiovascular or other major body systems. Usually these patients are in need of a lot of constant care in the shape of medication or continuous supervision, breathing aid; and require treatment in a close region, where quick decisions can be made and suitable treatment can be administered rapidly. In ICU, a number of patients are entered after surgery, a period that has a risk of complications such as internal bleedings or if surgery was predominantly shocking.
When a hospital receives a patient suffering from heart attack, or they have had a heart surgery, they usually admit him/her to the CCU or Cardiac Care Unit. This unit has highly qualified personnel specially trained to monitor, care and treat patients with different types of heart disease. Usually these patients also require over all specialized care, but the focus is essentially on the heart, or heart related.
Equipment
For family members of patients in the ICU, one look at the heavy equipment in the room could be scary. Generally, heart rate monitors, pulse and blood monitors are always attached to the patients body; yet, there may also be ventilators or respirators as well as multiple draining fluids equipments for both into the patient’s body and out are present. Other equipment to control different functions of the body is also present nearby. No matter what the specific disease of the patient is, the equipment is used to verify the over all condition so that the staff is always aware of the present state of the patient.
As in the ICU, patients in the CCU are also hooked on to an assortment of tubes and machines that could be intimidating to families. All patients are connected to the heart monitors the heart and those who experience difficulty of breathing, can be attached to ventilators or respirators. Electrocardiograms, or ECGs, are present as mandatory to monitor the electrical activity of the heart. As patients in the ICU, blood work is drawn on a routine basis every two or three hours, depending on the patient.
Summary:
1. Two of the most critical care units available to patients in a hospital are the ICU, for patients critically ill, and the CCU for heart patients.
2. The ICU staff has a primary focus in the way of treating patients whose large and vital systems have failed to function in the body, but when a patient suffers a heart attack, or they have had heart surgery, usually the patient is admitted the CCU.