Critical Care Medicine

Leadership

Jerry J. Zimmerman, MD, PhD
Professor
Division Chief

Overview

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) is devoted to providing state-of-the-art, evidence-based care to critically ill infants and children, while advancing the science of pediatric critical care and training the next generation of academic pediatric intensivists. We strive to maintain a national reputation for excellence in clinical practice, research, and fellowship education. PCCM is home to both the CICU and PICU. The NICU operates as a separate division under the direction of Craig Jackson, MD.

Clinical Programs

A total of 45 state-of-the-art beds are designated for Critical Care at Children’s, with three distinct units and teams providing Neonatal, Pediatric, and Cardiac Intensive Care services, with an emphasis on family-centered care.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) consists of a team of doctors and nurses specially trained to provide care for infants with prematurity and/or medical and surgical congenital disorders up to 1 month of age.

The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) consists of doctors and nurses with expertise in the care of infants and children with congenital and acquired heart diseases, both medical and surgical in nature.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is staffed by doctors and nurses dedicated to the care of infants and children with the full spectrum of both medical and surgical childhood diseases. PICU physicians also provide coverage for the Pediatric Trauma Service at Harborview Medical Center.

Each of these services has expertise in the full range of modern-day support modalities including ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and internal and external mechanical heart support. Infants and children undergoing heart, liver, kidney and small bowel transplants, as well as those who have undergone bone marrow transplantations, are all routinely admitted to the ICU’s.

Diagnoses or Conditions Treated

The top diagnoses for the ICU are:

  • Acute liver failure
  • Acute kidney failure
  • Bacterial meningitis
  • Bacterial sepsis
  • Birth depression or trauma
  • Brain tumors
  • Bronchiolitis
  • Congenital and acquired heart disease
  • Craniofacial anomalies
  • Diaphragmatic hernia
  • Foreign body aspiration
  • Infant respiratory distress syndrome
  • Meconeum aspiration syndrome
  • Near drowning
  • Necrotizing enterocolitis
  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Respiratory failure
  • Seizures

Physician Leadership

  • Jerry J. Zimmerman, MD, PhD, Division Head, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Harris P. Baden, MD, Medical Director, CICU
  • Craig Jackson, MD, MHA, Medical Director, NICU

Research Programs

Division faculty are involved in a variety of NIH supported basic science, clinical, and outcomes research projects. Specific areas of study include pulmonary biology, noninvasive assessment of tissue oxygenation, heat shock proteins, the biology of pediatric ARDS, and the role of steroids in sepsis. The division is proud to be an original member of the NIH-supported Pediatric Critical Care Research Network.

Training Programs

Pediatric residents rotate on the PICU with the goal of seeing the full spectrum of pediatric disease, learning to recognize the child in need of intensive care, and learning the initial steps in resuscitation and management of the critically ill infant or child. The Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) fellowship program provides comprehensive training in clinical pediatric critical care medicine and the principles of scientific investigation, bioethics, and ICU administration. PCCM fellows rotate on the PICU and CICU of Children’s as well as providing services to Harborview Medical Center.

For more information, please visit the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship website.