During the COVID-19 pandemic, many PICUs took adult patients. Although initially taking “older adolescents” was planned, it rapidly became clear that patients of any age would need to come to PICU.
For PicPod 42 we discuss these issues with the King’s Hospital, London team. Starring are Richard Long, a 78 year old Paediatric Intensive Care survivor, and Lesley Lingen, his partner who supported him throughout. From the clinical team we have Kerry Murphy, matron for Paediatric Critical Care, Tom Best, clinical director of Adult Intensive Care, and Akash Deep, clinical director of Paediatric Intensive Care.
What did it feel like to wake up after a prolonged illness in the middle of COVID times? How was it for the partner? What were the differences between AICU and PICU care from the patient perspective?
How was the planning done? What changes were made to facilitate this? Was this “adults on PICU”, or “AICU outliers on PICU”? What aspects of paediatric care could be translated to adult care, and vice versa? How did death impact on the team, and how did the team look after themselves? How would it have been different if it had been the other way around?
Are we all ready for the next surge? Keep listening, keep talking, keep thinking.
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