Critical care medicine deals with life support or organ support for patients who are critically ill. A critical care physician diagnoses, treats, and supports patients who may be in an intensive care unit, or who may have multiple organ dysfunction. Patients who receive intensive care treatment are usually critically ill patients who are treated after major surgery and require intensive monitoring. The critical care or intensive care physician may also communicate with the patient’s primary physician, other specialists, and the critical care staff to coordinate treatment and care.

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are trauma, cystic fibrosis, renal failure, liver failure, post-operative care, serious infections, acute lung injury, hemodynamic instability, hypoxic injury, reversible heart & lung dysfunction, multi-organ dysfunction, airway & respiratory compromise, cardiopulmonary failure, and circulatory failure.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including endotracheal tube, mechanical ventilation, tracheotomy, ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), establishing central venous access, adial arterial catheterization, and passage of pulmonary arterial balloon flotation catheters.

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including magnetic resonance imaging (mri), computed axial tomography (ct or cat scan), blood test, and pulmonary function tests (pfts).

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. Florida has 632 practicing critical care medicine doctors. Broken out by city, critical care medicine doctor density in Atlantis is 7, in Auburndale is 1, in Aventura is 11, in Bartow is 1, in Boca Raton is 7, in Bonita Springs is 1, in Boynton Beach is 6, in Bradenton is 10, in Brooksville is 3, in Cape Coral is 6, in Clearwater is 8, in Clermont is 3, in Cocoa is 1, in Cocoa Beach is 3, in Coral Gables is 11, in Coral Springs is 4, in Crestview is 2, in Crystal River is 1, in Davenport is 3, in Daytona Beach is 5, in Deerfield Beach is 1, in Delray Beach is 14, in Deltona is 1, in Destin is 1, in Dunedin is 3, in Eustis is 1, in Fort Lauderdale is 21, in Fort Myers is 17, in Fort Pierce is 1, in Fort Walton Beach is 4, in Gainesville is 25, in Hialeah is 9, in Hollywood is 25, in Homestead is 1, in Inverness is 3, in Jacksonville is 74, in Jacksonville Beach is 10, in Jupiter is 4, in Kissimmee is 7, in Lady Lake is 4, in Lake City is 4, in Lake Mary is 5, in Lake Placid is 1, in Lake Wales is 1, in Lake Worth is 6, in Lakeland is 15, in Largo is 8, in Leesburg is 3, in Longwood is 5, in Maitland is 3, in Marathon is 1, in Margate is 1, in Melbourne is 14, in Miami is 85, in Miami Beach is 11, in Mount Dora is 1, in Naples is 17, in New Port Richey is 7, in New Smyrna Beach is 3, in Niceville is 1, in Ocala is 13, in Okeechobee is 2, in Orange City is 5, in Orange Park is 12, in Orlando is 32, in Ormond Beach is 3, in Oviedo is 2, in Palm Bay is 2, in Palm Beach Gardens is 3, in Palm Coast is 5, in Panama City is 5, in Pembroke Pines is 8, in Pensacola is 16, in Plant City is 2, in Plantation is 2, in Pompano Beach is 5, in Rockledge is 2, in Safety Harbor is 4, in Sanford is 6, in Sarasota is 18, in Sebastian is 1, in Sebring is 7, in South Miami is 7, in Stuart is 4, in Sunrise is 1, in Tallahassee is 10, in Tamarac is 3, in Tampa is 51, in Tarpon Springs is 2, in Tavares is 4, in Titusville is 2, in Venice is 3, in Vero Beach is 4, in West Palm Beach is 12, in Weston is 6, in Winter Garden is 1, in Winter Haven is 6, in Winter Park is 9, in Winter Springs is 1, and in Zephyrhills is 7.

Florida’s warm and humid subtropical climate makes it a winter destination for many. Population in 2000 was 15,982,378, according to census statistics. Tallahassee, located in the north panhandle area, is the state capital. Tourism is a major industry in Florida, with Cape Canaveral, Disney World, the Everglades National Park, Universal Studios, the Atlantic coast and the Gulf coast all destinations for visitors and residents. Year-round outdoor activities include camping, golf, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing and boating.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Florida has a population of 17,789,864. Of this population, 3,975,071 are under the age of 18 and 2,978,335 are at or above the age of 65.