[Environmental sustainability in intensive care medicine].

Abstract

Intensive care medicine is an area with a particularly high consumption of resources. This review presents important new findings relating to the environmental sustainability of intensive care medicine. For example, the drugs used in intensive care medicine can end up in the environment and cause relevant ecotoxicity. The consumption of material items is very high in intensive care medicine and the increasing replacement of reusable items by disposable items is a major problem. Simple measures can reduce the ecological footprint of materials and introduce the recycling of waste in intensive care units. The high energy consumption of air conditioning, lighting and medical technology varies between facilities but in most cases is substantial and can be significantly reduced through appropriate measures. Ideally, the consumption should be measured and analyzed in detail. In the future, support from artificial intelligence is conceivable in this aspect. Sustainability must be given a much higher priority in the training, continued and advanced education in intensive care medicine than it has been to date and in intensive care research sustainability aspects should be given equal consideration alongside economic aspects when it comes to assessing otherwise equivalent treatments. It is particularly important to avoid the misuse and overuse of intensive care. It brings no benefit to patients and hinders needs-based treatment that is oriented towards the patient's well-being. In addition, misuse and overuse increases costs and drives up the consumption of resources and thus the ecological footprint. Sustainability in the intensive care unit can only be achieved as a team. Various approaches are presented on how a networked Green Team can promote sustainability in the intensive care unit.