OBJECTIVES: to review and cite important individuals and events in the development of pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM). DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search was performed looking for citations of the history of PCCM. This yielded 85 citations of which 46 were obtained. Thirty nine of the 85 were rejected as inappropriate either by title (e.g., pediatric emergency medicine) or because they were in a foreign language only. After review of the 46, 21 were included in this review and the others rejected as inappropriate. Textbooks of PCCM were reviewed for chapters on the history of PCCM and four were included. Forty-eight personal communications were made to individuals and four to organizations to elicit and verify information. One speech is referenced and from these sources, a total of 37 additional textbooks, monographs and chapters and 47 journal manuscripts and reference sites were found and included. SELECTION AND EXTRACTION: Materials pertinent to the specific disciplines, individuals and events in the development of CCM(Critical care medicine) and PCCM were included in this review. CONCLUSIONS: PCCM owes a great debt to the expertise in anesthesiology, neonatology, pediatric cardiology, pediatric general and cardiovascular surgery and nursing for its evolution. The modern PCCM unit and service is more the result of the need to treat and organize care for critically ill and injured patients than to any developments in technology.
Keywords: critical care; history; pediatric critical care; pediatrics; poliomyelitis; ventilation.