The Intensive Care Medicine unit focuses on patient care, teaching and research — both clinical and laboratory-based — in the treatment of life-threatening respiratory failure and infectious diseases.

The unit treats respiratory and infectious conditions including:

– Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS): Each year, the unit cares for many patients with ARDS. Its expertise in managing the most severe cases, together with its advanced technical resources, makes it a regional referral centre for these patients. Intensive care units in Marseille and the surrounding region refer their most critically ill patients to our team, particularly those who require extracorporeal respiratory support. Since 2009, a dedicated mobile unit (UMAC-ARDS), bringing together the cardiac surgery teams at La Timone Hospital, SAMU 13 and the DRIS intensive care team, has provided round-the-clock cover. It assesses the indication for extracorporeal respiratory support, initiates it at the hospital where the patient is located and then organises transfer to our unit.

– Care of lung transplant patients: Working with the Respiratory Medicine and Thoracic Surgery teams, we provide immediate postoperative care for lung transplant recipients and treat patients with respiratory failure who are awaiting transplantation.

In addition to these specialist conditions, our unit admits any patient with failure of a vital organ, whether referred from the emergency department or another hospital ward.

We also use specialist techniques focused on respiratory conditions, including prone positioning, non-conventional ventilation modes and pleural pressure monitoring.

A particular area of technical expertise is extracorporeal respiratory support, which can provide complete respiratory support through extracorporeal circulation for patients with severe ARDS or primary graft dysfunction after transplantation. The department comprises two intensive care units with 14 and 10 beds, together with five high-dependency beds.

The multidisciplinary team includes doctors, nurse managers, nurses, healthcare assistants, cleaning staff, physiotherapists, psychologists, an occupational therapist, and logistics and administrative teams. Everyone is committed to providing patients with the best possible care and is available to listen to your questions and comments.

Dr Jean-Marie Forel, chef de service