A two-day basic pediatrics intensive care course concluded at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H) here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the course, Dr AG Thomas, Director, CMCH, underlined the need for formal training in pediatrics intensive care. Dr Praveen Khilnani, course director, elaborated that various levels of courses were planned for training the pediatrician in this specialty in India.

The spectrums of the critically ill children require a higher level of care. Nearly one fifth of hospital admission of children needs intensive care, especially among newborn. The awareness of need of critical care in children is limited. As a result, the pediatric patients are often brought late to hospitals providing advanced care.

This course is expected to sensitize the physicians looking after children to the need of early transport. Critically ill children require specialized care during transport from one hospital to another and trained personnel and equipment should be available during transport.

The two-day workshop focussed on providing critical care to the sick children. Various aspects of pediatrics intensive care were discussed. Nearly 50 pediatricians — from medical colleges and private practitioners —took part in the two-day deliberations.

The course was designed jointly by Indian Society for Critical Care Medicine and IAO intensive care chapter. It provided hands-on skill-based training to the participants.