Table 1.

Consensus definitions of critical care and ICUs.

Society/Organisation	Definitions
Intensive Care Societyhttps://ics.ac.uk/about-icu/what-is-intensive-care.html	Intensive care units (ICUs) are specialist hospital wards that provide treatment and monitoring for people who are very ill. ICUs are also sometimes called critical care units (CCUs) or intensive therapy units (ITUs). They’re staffed with specially trained healthcare professionals and contain sophisticated monitoring equipment.
Faculty of Intensive Care Medicinehttps://www.ficm.ac.uk/forpatients/what-is-intensive-care	Intensive Care, also known as critical care, is a place in every acute hospital that manages patients who are critically ill.
European Society of Intensive Care Medicinehttps://www.esicm.org/patient-and-family/what-is-intensive-care/	Intensive care is the medical speciality that supports patients whose lives are in immediate danger – like when a vital organ such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys or the nervous system is affected
National Library of Medicinehttps://medlineplus.gov/criticalcare.html#:∼:text=What%20is%20critical%20care%3F,constantly%20monitor%20your%20vital%20signs.	Critical care is medical care for people who have life-threatening injuries and illnesses. It usually takes place in an intensive care unit (ICU). A team of specially-trained health care providers gives you 24-h care. This includes using machines to constantly monitor vital signs. It also usually involves giving specialised treatment.
UK National Health Servicehttps://www.nhs.uk/conditions/intensive-care/	Intensive care units(ICUs) are specialist hospital wards that provide treatment and monitoring for people who are very ill. They’re staffed with specially trained healthcare professionals and contain sophisticated monitoring equipment. ICUs are also sometimes called critical care units (CCUs) or intensive therapy units (ITUs)
National Institute of Clinical Excellencehttps://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg83/ifp/chapter/what-critical-care-means	‘Critical care’ is now used as the term that encompasses ‘intensive care’, ‘intensive therapy’ and ‘high dependency’ units. Critical care is needed if a patient needs specialised monitoring, treatment and attention, for example, after routine complex surgery, a life-threatening illness or an injury. If someone needs critical care, they can be said to have a ‘critical illness’.
American College of Physicianshttps://www.acponline.org/about-acp/about-internal-medicine/subspecialties-of-internal-medicine/critical-care-medicine	ICUs are specially equipped hospital units that provide highly specialised care, continuous observation and monitoring of critical care patients 24 h a day. Typically, patients are admitted to the ICU from an emergency room, from an operating room or from another area of the hospital. The care team for ICU patients comprises a multidisciplinary group of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacists who have all been trained in care of critically ill or injured patients.
Canadian Critical Care Societyhttps://canadiancriticalcare.org/Patients-&-Families	Critical care medicine encompasses the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of clinical problems representing the extreme of human disease. Critically ill patients require intensive care by a coordinated team.