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Together, we are saving lives.

2,655

There are over 2,655 ICU beds across Australia and NZ.

226

ICUs throughout Australia & New Zealand

12,090

Children needing ICU

Intensive Care is the life support centre of major hospitals.

None of us know when a parent, spouse, child or friend will unexpectedly need intensive care.

Australians have a 1 in 2 chance of requiring an Intensive Care admission at some stage during their life. This will affect the lives of every Australian family, often more than once.

This can be a sudden, severe, life threatening illness and have a gut-wrenching effect on family.  It requires advanced medical skill & equipment; vigilance, often on the spot decisions, and round the clock nursing care. If you have been involved in an intensive care setting, you will know what VIP treatment you receive.

At the Intensive Care Foundation we are dedicated to improving the care of critically ill patients, through funding vital research. Our overall aim is to improve the number of lives saved and the quality of those lives, for those who find themselves in intensive care.

Inspiring stories of lives saved by the ICU

John Mullen

Chief Executive Officer, Asciano Ltd
Like so many of us in middle age I had always taken my health for granted. I had experienced my fair share of sporting accidents and self-inflicted injuries of one form or another, but nothing that was serious, was not fixable, or which did not go away quickly of its own accord. I was bullet-proof, thought that I would live forever, and somehow th…

Darryl Sabin

Survivor, author and motivational speaker
From a young age, Darryl Sabin had only one dream – to be an All Black.  But at the age of 15 he started suffering concussions while playing rugby and on ANZAC day 2009 he entered the fight of his life.  But he defied the odds and in a remarkable and ironic twist of fate, the game that so nearly claimed his life became the cornerstone of…

Ian “Molly” Meldrum

Pop music legend
Life can change in the blink of an eye. Or, in my case, with a fall from a ladder. One minute, I was getting ready for a Christmas party; the next, I was in intensive care at the Alfred Hospital. I’ve woken up with a headache after a few parties, but never like this. Intensive care is aptly-named. I can’t remember much of it, but the fact that I…

Clive Mathieson

Editor, The Australian
I had never been in an intensive care unit until May last year, when I was led to the bedside of my six-day-old son. Will had just been through 11 hours in theatre to repair a congenital heart defect and was now in the hands of the Sydney Children’s Hospital ICU. From that first night, the care given to Will – and the comfort given to his parents…

Costanza and friends

New mothers in ICU
For most women, giving birth to their baby is a joyous experience. However, not all mothers are lucky enough to cradle their newborn babies in their arms once the hard work is done. Unfortunately, if complications occur during or after childbirth some mothers require urgent medical attention. The worst cases end up fighting for their own lives in…

Joanne Spaulding

Her amazing recovery
Just after 7am on Thursday, 22 November, 2012, Joanne Spaulding, Hobart mother of three children aged 12, 9 and 18 months, was preparing the family for a busy day like any other… I fainted in the laundry as I was going about the usual school-morning’s business.  My husband, Glyn, managed to catch me, and stop me from whacking my head on the…