[Personal experience with the use of a computer in an intensive care unit]

In January 1977, the computerized system Hewlett Parkard HP 5600 A was set up in the Resuscitation Center of the "V. Fazzi" Hospital. It is able to play the following functions: management of the data monitors, management of the laboratory data, management of the staff remarks, carrying out of special calculations, logging. The advantages shown by the presence of a computer in a Resuscitation Center justify, in the opinion of the Authors, the expenses and problems of the organization. In fact, the monitoring and computation of both the vital and physical data and of the laboratory parameters, are essential in the therapies selected for a critically ill patient.