Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS)

The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society is the leading advocate on all intensive care related matters. ANZICS leads the world in intensive care research through its Clinical Trials Group and patient databases, including the Adult Patient Database, the Paediatric Intensive Care Registry and Critical Care Resources. The Society is devoted to all aspects of intensive care medical practice through ongoing profes​sional education, the provision of leadership in medical settings, clinical research and analysis of critical care resources.

The modern specialty of Intensive Care began with the poliomyelitis epidemic in Denmark during 1952-1953. The use of prolonged manual positive pressure ventilation in Copenhagen during this epidemic stimulated interest and research into mechanical positive pressure ventilation. For the preceding twenty years, prolonged ventilatory support had been accomplished by negative pressure tank ventilators in infectious disease departments and hospitals, the use of positive pressure ventilation being restricted to the operating room.

With the success of mechanical positive pressure ventilation, the management of pulmonary diseases and complications passed from infectious diseases departments to recovery wards, with Intensive Care Units usually developing adjacent to operating rooms. The ability to prevent death from respiratory failure made a whole new range of diseases and complications amenable to treatment. Chest injuries, tetanus, barbiturate coma and postoperative respiratory failure became common conditions treated in Intensive Care Units. This new knowledge and expertise was initially spread internationally by a group of enthusiasts who communicated personally rather than through the medical journals.

Vision:
Connecting the Intensive Care Community

Mission:
To achieve the best possible outcome for patients and their families by advancing intensive care practice