IBAS − Institute for Breathing and Sleep

What we do > Current Projects > Respiratory > Respiratory - Other > Study of the Respiratory High Dependence Unit

Study of the Respiratory High Dependence Unit

When a person gets sick with a lung problem, how unwell that person becomes depends on how well the lungs and chest wall function on a daily basis and how severe the new problem is.
In our hospital, the most unwell patients are cared for in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU,) which provides the highest level of support for organ failure. People who are a little bit unwell can be cared for in the general ward where they may be monitored, and low levels of respiratory support provided, such as some extra oxygen through tubes to their nose or mouth.
In between the ICU and the general ward is an area called the Respiratory High Dependence Unit (Respiratory HDU.) This is used for people whose carbon dioxide is too high or oxygen too low to stay on the general ward, but who are not sick enough to need to go to the ICU. Here people can use ventilators that don't need them to be put to sleep, or into an induced coma. Looking after people with intermediate-level lung problems in a Respiratory HDU has only really been around for about the last 10-20 years, as the type of ventilator used for this kind of care has become a developed technology with evidence for safety and effectiveness. Other important features of the Respiratory HDU in our hospital are the staff and their skills, the types of monitoring equipment which is appropriate for people with an intermediate level of respiratory failure, and the equipment to give people higher levels of oxygen than available on general wards in the hospital. The staff in our Respiratory HDU are Doctors, Nurses and Allied Health staff (such as Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists) who are specialists in lung problems.
The aim of this project is to assess who the people are that come to our Unit for care (age and other demographics), what their lung problem is, what other medical problems they have and, most importantly, how they go as they get well enough to leave the Respiratory HDU. We think this is an important project to help ensure that we are providing the best possible care to people with intermediate-level respiratory failure at the Austin Hospital.

Full Name

Audit of the Austin Respiratory High Dependence Unit Activity and Outcomes

Primary Investigator

Ksenia Chamula

Stream

Respiratory > Respiratory - Other

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