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Interhospital paediatric intensive care transport: a novel transport unit based on a standard ambulance trolley
Gijs D Vos1, Wim A Buurman, Dick A van Waardenburg
1Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Maastricht, PO box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands. gvo@paed.azm.nl
Insights
Centralizing pediatric intensive care in tertiary centers requires specialized transport. Critically ill children need continuous care during transfers, necessitating a trained team and specific equipment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric intensive care
- Transport medicine
- Critical care
Background:
- Pediatric intensive care is increasingly centralized in tertiary centers.
- This centralization necessitates safe and organized transport systems for critically ill children.
- Effective inter-facility transfer requires specialized teams and continuous intensive care capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define the requirements for safe and effective transport of critically ill children.
- To outline the essential equipment and materials for maintaining intensive care during inter-facility transfers.
- To describe the development of a mobile unit for pediatric intensive care transport.
Main Methods:
- Determining minimal equipment requirements for continuous intensive care during transport.
- Specifying essential components including monitoring, airway management, and resuscitation tools.
- Constructing a mobile pediatric intensive care unit to house and deploy transport equipment.
Main Results:
- A comprehensive list of essential equipment for pediatric critical care transport was identified.
- Key equipment includes vital signs monitor, defibrillator, airway management tools, oxygen, suction, fluid management, medication, and communication systems.
- A mobile unit was developed to facilitate the organized storage and use of this specialized equipment.
Conclusions:
- Safe transfer of critically ill children to tertiary centers requires dedicated, well-equipped transport teams.
- Continuous intensive care must be maintained during transport using standardized equipment and protocols.
- The development of mobile intensive care units enhances the capability to provide high-level care during pediatric patient transfers.
Abstract:
A recent development in providing intensive care for children is that it is more and more centralized in tertiary centres. The centralization of intensive care facilities for children in tertiary centres demands a safe and well-organized transport system. The transfer of critically ill children from a referring general hospital to a tertiary paediatric intensive care centre should be performed by a specially trained and fully equipped transport team. During the transfer of these children continuous intensive care facilities should be provided. The minimal requirements of equipment and materials for transport that allow such care have been determined. The equipment consists of a monitor allowing continuous measurement of vital signs, a defibrillator, tools for airway and ventilatory management, an oxygen source, suction unit, fluid and electrolyte management, medication, resuscitation chart and a communication system. A mobile paediatric intensive care unit was constructed in order to store this equipment, including easily accessible ventilator and materials optimized for close patient observation and ventilator control.
