[Regional organization of a neonatal transportation system]

Organization, operational plans, and initial experience of a Regional Neonatal Transport System is described. The system covers provinces of Bizcaia, and Alava in Northern Spain, with a total of 17,500 annual deliveries. In the first 10 months 31 newborn infants were transported. Their mean birth weight was 2,066 +/- +/- 931 Gm. Ten infants had a birth weight less than 1,500 Gm, and in 22 (71%) of them gestational age was under 37 weeks. Some types of respiratory distress was present in 71% of them, and 25.8% required mechanical ventilation during transport. Hypothermia was present in 36% of the infants at referral center, percentage that decreased to only 9% at their arrival to the NICU. During transport mean body temperature increased from 35.33 +/- 1.07 degrees to 35.84 +/- 0.9 degrees C (p less than 0.01). Infants condition was judged to improve in 13% of them. Overall survival rate was 74.2%, being 80.9% in those weighting from 1,000 to 1,500 Gm. Infants who were hypothermic had a lower survival (45.5%) than those who were not (90%) (p less than 0.05).