Cardiac Intensive Care Service

Seattle Children's Cardiac Intensive Care Service

We have a special ICU for our Heart Center patients.

The pediatric cardiac intensive care service at Seattle Children's includes a 12-bed intensive care unit within our regular ICU.

This is a special place where children come to recover from heart surgery and other procedures before they are sent to a regular hospital room.

What's special about the experience at Seattle Children's?

Very few heart centers around the world have a dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care service, and our program is unmatched in the region. We have the latest in lifesaving equipment, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a type of heart-lung pump that provides support when a child's heart or lungs fail to work properly or need rest.

We operate under a principle of family-centered care. We believe that you know your child best. You are encouraged to stay with your child at all times once she is moved to the ICU.

You are allowed 24-hour access to the ICU with no limit on your length of stay. So as not to tire your child, only two visitors (including parents) may be at your child's bedside at one time.

We invite families to take part in everything from rounds (morning meetings of the entire health team) to treatment. Our warm and inviting ICU won the Society of Critical Care Medicine Family-Centered Care Award of Excellence for 2005.

Who's on the team?

Led by Dr. Harris Baden, our staff is highly specialized in treating heart conditions in children from newborns to teens. Our team includes cardiac intensivists, doctors specially trained in pediatric cardiac intensive care.

A cardiac intensivist is available 24 hours a day. Our team also includes cardiac nurses, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, pharmacologists, nutritionists and social workers.