%0 Journal Article
%T Critical care resources in the Solomon Islands: a cross-sectional survey
%A Mia Westcott
%A Alexandra LC Martiniuk
%A Robert A Fowler
%A Neill KJ Adhikari
%A Tenneth Dalipanda
%J BMC International Health and Human Rights
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-698x-12-1
%X This study used a mixed methods approach, including a cross sectional survey of respondents' opinions regarding critical care needs, ethnographic information and qualitative data.The four most common conditions leading to critical illness in the Solomon Islands are malaria, diseases of the respiratory system including pneumonia and influenza, diabetes mellitus and tuberculosis. Complications of surgery and trauma less frequently result in critical illness. Respondents emphasised the need for basic critical care resources in LMICs, including equipment such as oximeters and oxygen concentrators; greater access to medications and blood products; laboratory services; staff education; and the need for at least one national critical care facility.A large degree of critical illness in LMICs is likely due to inadequate resources for primary prevention and healthcare; however, for patients who fall through the net of prevention, there may be simple therapies and context-appropriate resources to mitigate the high burden of morbidity and mortality. Emphasis should be on the development and acquisition of simple and inexpensive tools rather than complicated equipment, to prevent critical care from unduly diverting resources away from other important parts of the health system.Despite a large volume of critical care research in high-income countries over the last two decades--on epidemiology and therapies for common syndromes such as sepsis and acute lung injury, organisation of intensive care units (ICUs) and models of care delivery, and knowledge translation--virtually no research has occurred in settings with the greatest burden of illness and least capacity for care [1,2].In developed countries, caring for critically ill patients involves a coordinated system of triage, emergency management and ICUs [3]. Such care is viewed as complex and unaffordable for many LMICs, yet much of this burden of illness occurs among children and young adults with reversible illness and a good
%K Critical care
%K Critical illness
%K Solomon Islands
%K Lower and middle income countries
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/12/1