Critical Care Services
at Children’s Medical Center

Why Children's

The PICU medical staff and consulting services are prepared for any medical and surgical diagnosis and/or crisis, and provide a full range of services and interventions for newborns through teen-agers.
The Children’s PICU accepts all children, regardless of their ability to pay.
Pediatric ICU attending physicians on the medical staff are full-time faculty members at UT Southwestern and are international leaders in pediatric critical care.
The Children's Pediatric ICU conducts leading-edge medical research and brings new therapies to patients years before they are available at other institutions. Recent examples include recombinant BPI for the treatment of inflammation after open-heart surgery.
The medical staff in the Pediatric ICU helped define national and Pediatric ICU standards of care by writing one of the major textbooks in the field of pediatric critical care.
The Children's Pediatric ICU offers a neonatal and pediatric ECMO program, staffed by a dedicated ECMO team on call around the clock.
The Children's Pediatric ICU has pioneered a nurse practitioner program. Critical-care-trained pediatric nurse practitioners provide comprehensive care to critically ill and injured children, including diagnosis and treatment of complex, life-threatening conditions, and performance of emergent and invasive procedures.
Pediatric-trained PICU employees work together to provide care for patients. Critical Care Services consists of more than 461 employees, including registered nurses, respiratory therapists, team leaders, educators, clinical managers, an ECMO coordinator, two information system specialists, three research coordinators and around-the-clock pharmacists i nthe unit pharmacy.
The Children’s Pediatric ICU fosters family-centered care. Visiting is open 24 hours a day. Child life, social work and pastoral care all are actively involved in supporting patients and families.