The Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) is devoted to providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based care to critically ill infants and children, while advancing the science of pediatric critical care and training the next generation of academic pediatric intensivists. We strive to maintain a national reputation for excellence in clinical practice, research, and fellowship education. PCCM is home to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), while the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) is housed in the Cardiac Intensive Care Division, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) operates under the Neonatology Division.
Clinical Programs
A total of 45 state-of-the-art beds are designated for Critical Care at Children’s, with three distinct units and teams providing Neonatal, Pediatric, and Cardiac Intensive Care services, with an emphasis on family-centered care. Our division operates the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). It is staffed by doctors and nurses dedicated to the care of infants and children with the full spectrum of both medical and surgical childhood diseases. PICU physicians also provide coverage for the Pediatric Trauma Service at Harborview Medical Center.
We work closely with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which provide care for infants with prematurity and/or medical and surgical congenital disorders up to 1 month of age, and the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) which cares for infants and children with congenital and acquired heart diseases.
Each unit has expertise in the full range of modern-day support modalities including ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and internal and external mechanical heart support. Infants and children undergoing heart, liver, kidney and small bowel transplants, as well as those who have undergone bone marrow transplantations, are all routinely admitted to the ICU’s.
Diagnoses or Conditions Treated
The top diagnoses for the PICU are:
- Acute liver failure
- Acute kidney failure
- Bacterial meningitis
- Bacterial sepsis
- Birth depression or trauma
- Brain tumors
- Bronchiolitis
- Congenital and acquired heart disease
- Craniofacial anomalies
- Diaphragmatic hernia
- Foreign body aspiration
- Infant respiratory distress syndrome
- Meconeum aspiration syndrome
- Near drowning
- Necrotizing enterocolitis
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Respiratory failure
- Seizures
Research Programs
Divisional faculty are involved in a variety of NIH, industry and foundation supported basic, translational and clinical research. Specific areas of investigation include inflammation/ischemia-dysoxia, long term outcomes following pediatric critical illness, bioethics, pediatric disaster preparedness, and continuous performance improvement.
Education and Training Programs
Pediatric Residency Rotation
Pediatric residents rotate in the PICU with the goal of experiencing the full spectrum of pediatric disease, learning to recognize the child in need of intensive care and practicing the initial steps in resuscitation and management of the critically ill infant or child.
Pediatric residents can choose a rotation in the CICU as an elective. In this rotation residents will be exposed to a wide range of congenital and acquired heart disease. Residents will learn about advanced cardio-pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology.
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
The PCCM fellowship program provides comprehensive training in clinical pediatric critical care medicine and the principles of quality improvement, scientific investigation, bioethics, and ICU administration. PCCM fellows rotate in the PICU and CICU of Children’s as well as a pediatric trauma ICU at Harborview Medical Center.
Contacts
Seattle Children’s Hospital
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
4800 Sand Point Way NE
Box 359300; M/S FA.6.226
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 987-2170