Unidade de terapia intensiva do hospital Getúlio Vargas: os avanços para a saúde pública piauiense.

Abstract

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS: The Getúlio Vargas Hospital, inaugurated to replace the Santa Casa de Misericórdia, has established itself over time as a benchmark in the Mid-North region of Brazil, needing to expand its care capacity and improve the resolution of complex cases. In the 1980s, the renovation of the hospital with the construction of the first public Intensive Care Unit in the state allowed for shorter hospital stays and more effective treatments. The construction of the Intensive Care Unit at the Getúlio Vargas Hospital was met with a huge backlash, with threats of legal action to prevent the installation of this service. OBJECTIVES: To historicize the implementation of the first public Intensive Care Unit in the state of Piauí, located at the Getúlio Vargas Hospital. To describe the health scenario in Piauí prior to the implementation of the first public Intensive Care Unit. Identify the professional staff who pioneered intensive care in the sector. To discuss the ICU's contributions to the state's health. METHOD: This is historical research focusing on social aspects based on the socio-historical dimension according to Barros (2004), corroborating the history of health and public institutions. The sources used were: documentary sources, including hemerographic sources, iconographic sources and books; and oral sources, which were constructed based on Thematic Oral History. A semi-structured interview was conducted, followed by internal and external reviews of the data collected. The inclusion criteria were: employment at the institution and working in the sector during the period when the first Intensive Care Unit was set up; and the exclusion criteria were: employees no longer living in Teresina. After this analysis, the data was organized, starting the construction and validation of the sector's historical narrative. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee under CAAE: 76551223.2.0000.5209. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Intensive Care Units evolved from the “Post-Anesthetic Recovery Rooms” in the 1920s in the United States, and in Brazil they began in the 1950s with the “steel lungs”. In Piauí, public health depended on charitable institutions until 1898, but the advent of the Getúlio Vargas Hospital ushered in a new era in Brazilian medicine. The Intensive Care Unit, inaugurated in 1988, began equipped with modern technology and a specialized multi-professional team. Thus, the sector has become a benchmark with advances that include low mortality and rapid recovery, positively impacting the state's public health. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: The study of the implementation of the first public Intensive Care Unit in the state of Piauí, at the Getúlio Vargas Hospital, highlights the importance of preserving the history of public institutions. Although the hospital has a solid reputation for treatment, historically it was limited to its emergency room, with other sectors and units needing more investment.