Specialty Hub
Critical Care
The sickest patients on the unit — shock, sepsis, and refractory hypoxemia. Recognize the shock state, read the hemodynamics, support oxygen delivery, and own the airway through a prone turn, backed by the drug tables and comparison charts that keep it straight.
Guides
Recognize, monitor, and manage the critically ill patient.
Shock Recognition & Management
The four categories of shock — hypovolemic, cardiogenic, distributive, and obstructive — with their hemodynamic profiles, the RT's role in oxygen delivery and airway support, and the bedside pitfalls.
Sepsis & Septic Shock for RTs
Sepsis-3 definitions, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign bundle, and the respiratory therapist's role — recognizing sepsis-induced respiratory failure and ARDS, supporting oxygenation, and tracking lactate.
Hemodynamic Monitoring Basics
The hemodynamic numbers RTs work alongside — MAP, CVP, PCWP, cardiac output and index, SVR, and mixed venous saturation — what they mean, how oxygen delivery ties in, and the bedside pitfalls.
Sedation, Analgesia & Delirium in the ICU
The PADIS approach to the ventilated patient — analgesia first, light sedation, avoiding benzodiazepines, the RASS and CAM-ICU tools, and the ABCDEF bundle that pairs awakening with breathing trials.
Prone Positioning for ARDS
When and how to prone the ARDS patient — the P/F < 150 threshold, the PROSEVA evidence for ≥16 hours a day, the physiology of recruitment, and the RT's airway-first role through the turn.
Interactive Practice
Practice Tools
Classify shock from the hemodynamics, interpret the gas, grade the oxygenation, and quantify the lung mechanics behind every ICU patient.
Clinical References
Drug tables, hemodynamic values, and sedation agents at a glance.
Vasopressors & Inotropes Reference
The vasopressors and inotropes RTs see running in the ICU — norepinephrine, epinephrine, vasopressin, phenylephrine, dopamine, dobutamine, and milrinone — by receptor activity, primary effect, clinical use, and monitoring notes.
Hemodynamic Parameters Reference
Normal values for the hemodynamic parameters RTs encounter in the ICU — MAP, CVP, PA pressures, PCWP, cardiac output and index, SVR, PVR, stroke volume, and mixed/central venous oxygen saturation — with the key oxygen-delivery equations.
ICU Sedation & Analgesia Agents
The sedatives and analgesics used in the ventilated ICU patient — propofol, dexmedetomidine, benzodiazepines, ketamine, and the opioids — by class, with onset, key features, and RT monitoring notes.
Quick Charts
Shock states and sedation scales side by side.
Shock Types Comparison Chart
Hypovolemic, cardiogenic, distributive, and obstructive shock side by side — mechanism, preload, cardiac output, SVR, mixed venous saturation, typical causes, and first-line treatment.
Sedation & Agitation Scales Chart
The Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) and the Riker Sedation-Agitation Scale (SAS) laid out level by level, with the target sedation range and a note on delirium screening.
Suggested Learning Path
From recognizing shock to proning the refractory lung.
Related Specialties
Critical care connects directly to these areas.