EP01 — Daily Checks: Keeping a Field ICU Ready for the Next Admission (SOP 031)

Welcome to the first episode of the rescEU ICU Briefing, a podcast series for clinicians deploying with the rescEU Specialised Care Team — Intensive Care Unit under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.In this episode, Dr James Whitfield (senior intensivist) and Sister Eleanor Hayes (senior ICU nurse) discuss Annex 4.6-031 — Daily Checks (version 1.0), the SOP covering medical device management, crash trolley checks and equipment readiness in a field ICU.What we cover:Why daily checks matter more — not less — in a deployed field ICU than in a tertiary centreThe structure of the check routine: who does what, how often, and what gets signedResponsibilities of the ICU charge nurse, ICU nurse and logistics officerPractical realities: battery management, sealed crash trolleys, consumables and expiry trackingHow to escalate deficiencies without grinding clinical care to a haltReminder: This podcast supplements, but does not replace, the written SOP.This episode was generated using Google Gemini TTS via Vertex AI. Source content authored by the rescEU SCT ICU clinical working group (SOP author: Dr Federico Merlo). Audio produced by artificial intelligence.Co-funded by the European Union.