134 Modern hospitals are often also centres for investigation and teaching. They are divided into smaller units according to the parts of the body that they treat. Moreover, larger hospitals or specialised ones offer more, or more specialised services. ONLINE RESOURCES The operating room back-up: di supporto cart: carrello operating suite: reparto operatorio overhead: a soffitto rate: ritmo to recruit: assumere to scrub: lavare vigorosamente HOSPITALS A hospital is an institution that is built, staffed, and equipped for: the diagnosis of disease; the treatment, both medical and surgical, of the sick and the injured, and for their housing during the process. Hospitals belong to the category of services offered to the whole population since they are always active and operative regardless of specific requests. General organisation of a hospital Hospital departments are generally organised in order to improve efficiency in the following categories: administration services, which manage the operations of the departments, approve budgets, approve procedures, and deal with public relations; information services, which process information referring to the patient s admission and medical records and include the information system, responsible for the hospital network, and the human resources department, in charge of recruiting personnel; therapeutic services, which provide treatment to patients; diagnostic services, which determine the causes of an illness or an injury and which include medical laboratories, diagnostic radiology, and emergency medicine. Therapeutic services The main types of therapeutic departments which are almost always present in any hospital are: physical treatment, which improves large-muscle mobility in order to prevent or limit permanent disability; speech/language pathology, which treats speech and language disorders; respiratory therapy, which deals with heart and lung diseases; surgery; intensive therapy; childbirth and baby care; medical psychology, which is concerned with the mental well-being of the patients; social services, which refer patients to community resources for assistance; pharmacy, which dispenses the prescribed medication and provides information on their correct use. The Accident & Emergency Department A special department of a hospital is the Accident & Emergency Department (AED), which provides immediate treatment to both patients carried by an ambulance or people who arrive on their own because they believe they have a serious problem. Here is how it works: the first step: the triage, a place where the patient s condition is evaluated and prioritised; second step: the registration of the vital signs of the patient: temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and blood pressure; third step: the patients are carried to the examination room or to a specific area for diagnosis and treatment. 274