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. Illinois has 440 practicing critical care medicine doctors. Broken out by city, critical care medicine doctor density in Alton is 5, in Arlington Heights is 9, in Armstrong is 1, in Aurora is 5, in Bannockburn is 6, in Belleville is 6, in Benton is 1, in Berwyn is 8, in Bloomington is 7, in Blue Island is 3, in Breese is 4, in Burr Ridge is 17, in Canton is 2, in Carbondale is 4, in Champaign is 3, in Chicago is 184, in Chicago Heights is 3, in Clinton is 3, in Crystal Lake is 3, in Danville is 2, in Decatur is 5, in Dekalb is 1, in Des Plaines is 2, in Dixon is 2, in Du Quoin is 1, in East Dundee is 1, in Effingham is 2, in Eldorado is 1, in Elgin is 9, in Elmhurst is 5, in Evanston is 20, in Evergreen Park is 5, in Fairbury is 2, in Fairview Heights is 1, in Fox River Grove is 1, in Franklin Park is 1, in Freeport is 1, in Galesburg is 3, in Geneva is 10, in Granite City is 3, in Grayslake is 2, in Gurnee is 4, in Harvard is 2, in Harvey is 2, in Herrin is 2, in Highland Park is 4, in Hines is 2, in Homewood is 2, in Huntley is 2, in Jacksonville is 1, in Joliet is 9, in Kankakee is 2, in Lake Forest is 3, in Le Roy is 2, in Litchfield is 2, in Lombard is 16, in Loves Park is 1, in Marion is 2, in Marseilles is 1, in Maryville is 4, in Mattoon is 2, in Mchenry is 3, in Monmouth is 1, in Morris is 3, in Mount Carmel is 1, in Mount Vernon is 1, in Murphysboro is 1, in Naperville is 8, in Niles is 3, in Normal is 3, in North Chicago is 5, in Oak Forest is 2, in Oak Lawn is 11, in Oakbrook Terrace is 2, in Palos Heights is 5, in Palos Hills is 1, in Park City is 1, in Park Ridge is 5, in Pekin is 1, in Peoria is 11, in Peru is 4, in Pontiac is 2, in Quincy is 1, in Red Bud is 1, in Rockford is 8, in Rosiclare is 1, in Saint Anne is 2, in Schaumburg is 3, in Silvis is 3, in Skokie is 16, in Sparta is 2, in Springfield is 15, in Sterling is 1, in Sycamore is 1, in Urbana is 8, in Warrenville is 2, in Waukegan is 1, in Wheaton is 5, in Winfield is 12, and in Woodstock is 1.

Most people think that Chicago, because of its size and popularity, is Illinois’ capital city, but that distinction belongs to Springfield, home of the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Illinois has hundreds of museums, numerous yearly art and ethnic festivals, a lakeshore bordering Lake Michigan, and the many national forests and parks that offers visitors camping, horseback riding, biking, kayaking, and fishing. Chicago is home to the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, and other cultural opportunities and restaurants in the Navy Pier area.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Illinois has a population of 12,763,371. Of this population, 3,172,677 are under the age of 18 and 1,523,937 are at or above the age of 65.