Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Although Mackenzie ingested only a drop of lamp oil from a candle, the resulting lung damage could have been fatal. Read more.

Critical Care at Children's Memorial Hospital centers around the 42-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), located on the second floor of the hospital's main campus in downtown Chicago. (Step inside the PICU on a Virtual Tour.)

The PICU provides some of the most advanced, family-centered care available in the Midwest to children of all ages and with a vast range of serious illnesses. All the staff members (physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other professionals) are highly trained and skilled in the care of very sick infants and children. The team includes specialists and subspecialists, specially trained nurses, respiratory therapists, child life specialists, social workers, chaplains, therapists (speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy), and volunteers.

The latest interventions and treatments are available in the PICU, including ECMO, specialty ventilation techniques, and transplant. Additionally, a wide range of serious medical and surgical conditions are treated by the PICU staff members. Some of the most common illnesses are respiratory failure (severe breathing problems), sepsis (serious infection), congenital heart disease, and trauma, such as severe head injury.