In this issue of Critical Care Clinics, guest editor Dr. Hannah Wunsch brings her considerable expertise to the topic of History of Critical Care Medicine. The term "Critical Care Medicine" was first introduced in the 1950s at the University of Southern California-making 2023 the 70th anniversary of this subspecialty. This issue provides a fascinating look at important aspects of the history of the field, which originated with the concept that immediately life-endangered patients, the critically ill and injured, may have substantially better chances of survival if provided with professionally advanced minute-to-minute objective measurements. Contains 10 practice-oriented topics including early pediatric ICU care; mechanical ventilation: negative to positive and back again; airway management over the last 100 years; critical care nursing from the 1950s to the 2020s; from strict bedrest to early mobilization: a history of physiotherapy in the ICU; visiting hours and the changing place of family in the ICU; and more.
