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. Maryland has 406 practicing critical care medicine doctors. Broken out by city, critical care medicine doctor density in Andrews Afb is 1, in Annapolis is 10, in Baltimore is 240, in Bel Air is 14, in Berlin is 1, in Berwyn Heights is 1, in Bethesda is 28, in Brooklyn is 4, in Brooklyn Park is 1, in California is 1, in Catonsville is 1, in Charlotte Hall is 1, in Cheverly is 5, in Chevy Chase is 4, in Clarksville is 1, in Clinton is 9, in Columbia is 18, in Cumberland is 5, in Dundalk is 1, in Dunkirk is 1, in Eldersburg is 1, in Elkton is 3, in Fallston is 2, in Finksburg is 1, in Fort Washington is 2, in Frederick is 9, in Gaithersburg is 5, in Germantown is 1, in Glen Burnie is 13, in Gwynn Oak is 5, in Hagerstown is 6, in Havre De Grace is 3, in Hollywood is 1, in Hyattsville is 1, in Kensington is 6, in La Plata is 1, in Lanham is 3, in Largo is 1, in Laurel is 3, in Lutherville is 1, in Lutherville Timonium is 2, in North Potomac is 2, in Olney is 6, in Owings Mills is 4, in Pikesville is 4, in Pocomoke City is 1, in Prince Frederick is 3, in Randallstown is 1, in Rockville is 24, in Rosedale is 2, in Salisbury is 4, in Sandy Spring is 1, in Silver Spring is 14, in Stevensville is 1, in Takoma Park is 6, in Towson is 20, in Upper Marlboro is 1, in Waldorf is 2, in Westminster is 3, and in Wheaton is 3.

Maryland was one of the thirteen original colonies, and achieved statehood in 1788. Maryland’s population is 5,600,388; Annapolis is its capital and home to the U.S. Naval Academy. Baltimore is the largest city, and is home to world-acclaimed Johns-Hopkins University and Hospital. There are myriad activities available for residents or visitors, including arts and theater, sports, museums, hiking, biking and walking trails, Famous people from Maryland include musician Frank Zappa, baseball great Babe Ruth, and Francis Scott Key, who wrote the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

According to 2005 Census estimates, Maryland has a population of 5,600,388. Of this population, 1,360,481 are under the age of 18 and 641,040 are at or above the age of 65.