Talk:life support

RFV discussion: April–August 2015

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life support

Rfv-sense: "A machine that keeps the body of an ill or injured person alive." --Does such machine really exist or is this some sort of sci-fi concept? I have understood that it still takes a combination of gadgetry plus a well-trained medical team to keep a severely ill or injured person alive. The combination used depends on the condition of the patient. --Hekaheka (talk) 19:41, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

This is in widespread use. Many citations can be found by searching for "she was on life support" or "he was on life support" (in quotation marks) on Google Books. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 19:49, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Sure, but is our definition correct? Is "life support" really a machine? --Hekaheka (talk) 20:22, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Further: what, if anything, is the difference between "life support" and "intensive care"? --Hekaheka (talk) 05:21, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

intensive care refers to the special medical treatment of a critically ill patient, including constant monitoring and testing. It also refers to the department or area of a hospital where such treatment is carried out. The main ingredient in intensive care is the constant close monitoring by specially trained nurses. life support refers to the maintenance of vital functions of a critically ill or comatose person or a person undergoing surgery, and it refers mainly to the equipment and special procedures, such as a ventilator (respirator), an infusion pump, a crash cart (resuscitation cart, code cart), and intraaortic balloon pump. While life support formally refers to the type of care by specially trained doctors and nurses, as well as to the specialized equipment that they use, in informal speech life support can mean the equipment itself. So a person may be in intensive care, but not require the use of any life support equipment. If a patient needs life support, he will usually be placed in the intensive care ward, and will usually remain there for a while after the life support equipment is removed. When life support means it equipment itself, the phrasing is often "to be on life support." —Stephen ^(Talk) 05:59, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

(after edit conflict)

It could be a single device, but is better defined using (uncountable) "equipment" or "equipment and techniques". ::::intensive care is almost always in a specialized unit of a hospital. It can include medication intended to improve a patient's long-term condition I think. Basic life support can be provided almost anywhere and is intended to keep the patient alive until remedial treatment can be provided or on a maintenance basis to avoid death. Many forms do not have to be provided in an ICU, as IVs, breathing assistance, etc. I think all of this is very dependent on the nature of the medical service system in a circumstance, so it should vary by patient condition and geography and change over time. DCDuring TALK 05:57, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

I don't think it's a 'machine' and even if citable that way, the more general sense of 'a system of medical treatments' would cover the machine sense. In other words, it could be a machine or several machines or a machine and other things like saline bags which are not machines or machine administered. Renard Migrant (talk) 18:32, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

I would sidestep the rfv by changing the definition to include non-machine things. Does any disagree that things like a human (a non-machine, for these purposes) administering medication or fluids is part of life support? If not, just change it and close the rfv as moot. Renard Migrant (talk) 18:42, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

• A tender subject for me, as it's near the 3rd anniversary of my wife's death in hospital. But Oxford does say: "(informal) equipment in a hospital used for life support: a patient on life support." Donnanz (talk) 23:23, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

  Sorry.

It seems to be metonymy at work. The term seems to include the phenomenon, state, or activity; the equipment; the equipment and techniques; and the patient. We could either have a few definitions or just one or two, artfully worded. DCDuring TALK 02:58, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

I think sense 1 needs to be broadened to cover the use of life support in hospitals, which is closely allied to intensive care; either that or expand sense 2. The piece I quoted from my hard copy doesn't appear in the online version, so the definition must have been revised at some stage. Life support (equipment) includes anything used to monitor a patient or keep them alive, especially if they are in a coma. Donnanz (talk) 08:23, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Borrowing from Stephen and Renard above I wrote two new definitions:

1. (medicine) Maintenance of vital functions of a critically ill or comatose person or a person undergoing surgery.
2. (medicine) The equipment and special procedures used for life support,

If these were found acceptable then the current #2 could be deleted. --Hekaheka (talk) 05:48, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, looks OK. Not a machine as such, which is a life support machine. The translations entered for the machine sense will have to be checked. Donnanz (talk) 09:25, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

Seems like conclusion, made the proposed edits. --Hekaheka (talk) 13:54, 26 August 2015 (UTC)