| ICU of the referring hospital | Inter-hospital transporta | ICU of the participating hospital | Rehabilitation unit |
---|---|---|---|---|
General characteristics | ownership | Â | ownership | ownership |
level of care | Â | level of care | Â | |
teaching status | Â | teaching status | teaching status | |
specialization of the ICU | Â | specialization of the ICU | specialization | |
 |  | member of the ARDS network |  | |
 | transportation via air or via ground |  |  | |
Structural quality | qualification of direction, physicians and nurses | qualification of physicians and paramedics | qualification of direction, physicians and nurses | qualification of physicians, therapists and nurses |
 | 24 h-availability of physicians and nurses |  | 24 h-availability of physicians and nurses | 24 h-availability of physicians and nurses |
 | physician/nurse-patient-ratio |  | physician/nurse-patient-ratio | physician/therapist/ nurse-patient-ratio |
 | availability of equipment for diagnostic and therapeutical procedures | availability of equipment for diagnostic and therapeutical procedures | availability of equipment for diagnostic and therapeutical procedures | availability of equipment for diagnostic and therapeutical procedures |
Process quality | daily multiprofessional ward rounds with documentation of daily therapy goals | communication between physicians responsible for referral, transportation and admission | daily multiprofessional ward rounds with documentation of daily therapy goals | adoption of institutional and disesase-specific nursing and care concepts |
 | monitoring of sedation, analgesia and delirium |  | monitoring of sedation, analgesia and delirium | use of a nursing documentation system |
 | lung protective ventilation |  | lung protective ventilation | implementation of treatment pathways |
 | daily spontaneous breathing trials |  | daily spontaneous breathing trials | internal quality management |
 | documentation of structured caregiver-communication |  | documentation of structured caregiver-communication | documentation of patient-related therapy goals |
 | hand disinfection consumption |  | hand disinfection consumption |  |
 | implementation of treatment pathways in accordance with up-to-date recommen-dations (e.g. early enteral nutrition, non-invasive ventilation) |  | implementation of treatment pathways in accordance with up-to-date recommen-dations (e.g. early enteral nutrition, non-invasive ventilation) |  |
Volume | number of patients per year | Â | number of patients per year | number of patients per year |
 | number of ventilated patients per year |  | number of ventilated patients per year | number of ventilated patients per year |
 | number of patients died within 24 h per year |  | number of patients died within 24 h per year |  |