What type of specialized support is typically *not* required by patients in the IMU, differentiating it from the ICU environment?

Full mechanical ventilation or continuous vasoactive drips

The care provided in an Intermediate Care Unit (IMU) is intentionally scaled below the maximum resources of the ICU. Patients transferred to the IMU have generally been weaned off the most invasive supports. Specifically, they usually do not require continuous, full mechanical ventilation, which demands intensive, constant resource allocation. Similarly, they typically do not need continuous infusions of high-dose vasoactive drugs (pressors) to maintain stability, as is often the case in the ICU setting. Instead, the IMU focuses on close observation, non-invasive support, and management of conditions that are serious but not immediately life-threatening, allowing staff to focus on stabilization without managing the most extreme life-sustaining therapies.