An international critical care medical conference here, organized by the Saudi Critical Care Society (SCCS), will on Tuesday discuss medical research related to intensive care. Delegates are scheduled to consider working papers on the latest developments in intensive care for children and adults and psychiatric care. They will also discuss ways to reduce the time a patient stays in a hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The objective is to increase a patient's chance for recovery. Maj. Gen. Dr. Kattab Bin Eid Al-Otaibi, Director General of the General Administration for Medical Services in the Armed Forces, who will inaugurate the conference, said he valued the patronage of Crown Prince Sultan and his support of the SCCS. Lt. Col. Dr. Yasser Bin Hussein Mandourah, Deputy Chairman of the SCCS and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the conference, said the Crown Prince has supported the participation of 350 medical teams from the Kingdom. He has also hosted 25 doctors from the Sudanese Ministry of Health at his own expense. Mandourah said the Saudi Commission for Health Specializations has approved 11 additional working hours for the conference's training courses, which means that participants can have total 41 working hours for continued medical education at the event. He said 170 local and international experts will review subjects related to intensive care including emergency medicine, shock, burns and infectious diseases. There will also be scrutiny of vital organs such as the liver, heart and kidneys. Other subjects under discussion will include nerves, pharmacology, nursing, nutrition, physiotherapy, occupational medicine, radiology, quality control and information technology. The conference will concentrate on the outcome of research and studies that can change the professional practice of intensive care medicine, said Dr. Ahmad Al-Jibari, a neurologist, Chairman of the Scientific Committee and head of the ICU at the National Guard's King Abdul Aziz Medical City. He cited his hospital's Rapid Response Units that have reduced the numbers of death by more than 50 percent and the average stay of patients in ICUs from more than seven days to less than four days. These units, he said, have cut the time patients spend on artificial respiratory devices and have increased their chances of recovery by more than 40 percent.
