GC: n

S: WHO – https://bit.ly/2Lmhl7i (last access: 4 May 2019); NCBI – https://bit.ly/2vD7AHi (last access: 4 May 2019).

N: 1. – intensive (adj): mid-15c., “intense, fervent, great,” from Old French intensif (14c.) and Medieval Latin intensivus, from Latin intens-, past participle stem of intendere “turn one’s attention; strain, stretch”.
– care (n): Old English caru, cearu “sorrow, anxiety, grief,” also “burdens of mind; serious mental attention,” in late Old English also “concern, anxiety caused by apprehension of evil or the weight of many burdens,” from Proto-Germanic *karō “lament; grief, care” (source also of Old Saxon kara “sorrow;” Old High German chara “wail, lament;” Gothic kara “sorrow, trouble, care;” German Karfreitag “Good Friday;” see care (v.)).
Meaning “charge, oversight, attention or heed with a view to safety or protection” is attested from c. 1400; this is the sense in care of in addressing (1840). Meaning “object or matter of concern” is from 1580s. To take care of “take in hand, do” is from 1580s; take care “be careful” also is from 1580s.
– unit (n): 1560s, “single number regarded as an undivided whole,” alteration of unity on the basis of digit. Popularized in John Dee’s English translation of Euclid, to express Greek monas (Dee says unity formerly was used in this sense). Meaning “single thing regarded as a member of a group” is attested from 1640s. Extended sense of “a quantity adopted as a standard of measure” is from 1738. Sense of “group of wards in a hospital” is attested from 1893.

2. The unit within a hospital that cares for very seriously ill patients using sophisticated technology and specially trained personnel.

3. Intensive care unit, also called critical care unit, hospital facility for care of critically ill patients at a more intensive level than is needed by other patients. Staffed by specialized personnel, the intensive care unit contains a complex assortment of monitors and life-support equipment that can sustain life in once-fatal situations, including adult respiratory distress syndrome, kidney failure, multiple organ failure, and sepsis (see septicemia).

S: 1. OED – https://bit.ly/2DPhIks; https://bit.ly/2DJsPLF; https://bit.ly/2Jhls1U (last access: 4 May 2019). 2. TERMIUM PLUS – https://bit.ly/2vEwLJw (last access: 4 May 2019). 3. EncBrit – https://bit.ly/2Jg9Xri (last access: 4 May 2019).

SYN: ICU, critical care unit, CCU, intensive therapy unit, intensive treatment unit, UTI.

S: COSNAUTAS/LIBRO ROJO (last access: 4 May 2019)

CR: health professional, hospital.