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. Georgia has 230 practicing critical care medicine doctors. Broken out by city, critical care medicine doctor density in Albany is 4, in Arlington is 1, in Athens is 7, in Atlanta is 67, in Augusta is 33, in Austell is 19, in Barnesville is 1, in Bremen is 1, in Brunswick is 4, in Canton is 2, in Carrollton is 3, in Cartersville is 6, in Columbus is 5, in Conyers is 9, in Cordele is 1, in Covington is 1, in Cumming is 5, in Dalton is 1, in Decatur is 17, in Douglasville is 2, in Dublin is 3, in Duluth is 6, in Evans is 6, in Fayetteville is 6, in Fitzgerald is 1, in Fort Gordon is 2, in Fort Oglethorpe is 3, in Gainesville is 3, in Greensboro is 5, in Griffin is 1, in Hinesville is 1, in Hiram is 1, in Jesup is 2, in Kennesaw is 1, in Lagrange is 1, in Lawrenceville is 13, in Leesburg is 1, in Lithonia is 3, in Macon is 9, in Marietta is 27, in Martinez is 1, in Milledgeville is 1, in Monroe is 1, in Moultrie is 2, in Rincon is 1, in Riverdale is 6, in Rome is 3, in Roswell is 4, in Savannah is 13, in Snellville is 8, in Springfield is 2, in Statesboro is 2, in Stockbridge is 5, in Thomaston is 1, in Thomasville is 1, in Tifton is 2, in Toccoa is 1, in Tucker is 2, in Valdosta is 1, in Vidalia is 1, in Waycross is 1, in Woodstock is 2, and in Wrens is 1.

Georgia is rich in history, from its statehood in 1788, to its tobacco plantations, to its civil rights memorials. Atlanta is its vibrant capital city, and it offers a myriad of music, arts, sports and nightlife. While in Atlanta, visit the world’s largest aquarium, the Woodruff Arts Center, or the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Ride the Old Town Trolley in Savannah, and listen to some live jazz and blues at one of Savannah’s many festivals. Georgia’s mountain parks offer hiking, biking, climbing, and other outdoor activities. On Georgia’s coastline, you can go boating, deep sea fishing or kayaking in the Atlantic. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge draws many visitors yearly.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Georgia has a population of 9,072,576. Of this population, 2,319,806 are under the age of 18 and 865,997 are at or above the age of 65.