Intensive care medicine in Mongolia's 3 largest cities: Outlining the needs

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate intensive care resources, support, and personnel available in Mongolia's 3 largest cities. Materials and Methods This prospective study was performed as a questionnaire-based survey evaluating intensive care units (ICUs) in Mongolia's 3 main cities. Results Twenty-one of 31 ICUs participated in the survey. The median number of beds per ICU was 7 (interquartile ranges, 6-10) with 0.7 (0.6-0.9) physicians and 1.5 (0.6-1.8) nurses per bed. A 24-hour physician service was available in 61.9% of the participating ICUs. A median number of 359 patients (250-500) with an average age of 39 (30-49) years were treated annually. Oxygen was available in all ICUs, but only for 60% (17-75) of beds. Pressurized air was available in 33% of the ICUs for 24% (0-15) of beds. Of the ICUs, 52.4% had a lung ventilator serving 20% (0-23) of beds. The most common admission diagnoses were sepsis, stroke, cardiac disease, postoperative or postpartum hemorrhage, and intoxication. Availability of medical equipment, disposables, and drugs was inadequate in all ICUs. Conclusions Intensive care medicine in Mongolia's 3 largest cities is an under-resourced and underdeveloped medical specialty. The main problems encountered are insufficient training of staff as well as lack of medical equipment, disposables, and drugs.