[Intrahospital transportation of the seriously ill patient. The need for an action guideline]

The basics caused by the transportation of a patient in serious condition within the same hospital are varied, all of them involving a risk to the patient's stability and a responsibility for the accompanying professionals. The care that supposes the appropriate attention to the patient and the need for coordination among the parties make it necessary to homogenize the transfer criteria and those of the necessary previous maneuvers. This work has been carried out based on the lack of an intervention system that guides this practice. This work describes the possible intrahospital itineraries, the transport of this kind of patient, the phases of this type of transport as well as the most frequent physiologic alterations. The purpose of all this is to develop an action algorithm for the serious patient's intrahospital transportation and to reduce the incidence of adverse events during this transfer. A classification system that makes it possible to calculate the level of risk and to anticipate the care needs that a patient may require during the transfer is presented.