Be Critical Care Aware in May

Minnesota Governor Declares May Critical Care Month

For the second consecutive year, Gov. Tim Pawlenty proclaimed May as Critical Care Month in his state of Minnesota and opened discussion on the importance of the profession. The proclamation project was spearheaded by Society of Critical Care Medicine member Henry J. Mann, PharmD, FCCM, professor in the University of Minnesota’s College of Pharmacy and director of the Center for Excellence in Critical Care in Minneapolis.

“Campaigning for the proclamation helps builds camaraderie,” explained Dr. Mann. “It’s fun and it brings recognition to critical care in a very public way.”

“Although it was fantastic to receive the proclamation in 2005, this year was even more successful, since we were able to arrange for a public signing,” he said. “We brought eleven people representing different health systems across the state to participate. We spent 30 minutes in the governor’s reception room discussing critical care. It became apparent that critical care is important to the state. This experience certainly enhanced unity in our group.”

Dr. Mann and his colleagues plan to request another proclamation next year, building on ongoing recognition to increase visibility. “Next year we plan to have this project recognized by the various healthcare systems that will be participating. The photographs from the signing with the governor would easily lend themselves to newsletter and Web site publicity.”

“I recommend other groups try this,” he said. “A governor’s proclamation helps our members who want to promote critical care as an area of specialty and raises the awareness of many groups that would not have seen or thought about critical care. The governor’s office is a great example.”