Related Experiment Videos
[Assessment of 200 critically ill transferred children at a pediatric intensive care unit]
F Rubio Quiñones1, A Hernández González, S Quintero Otero
1Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Cádiz.
Insights
Transporting critically ill children poses risks, with over 40% experiencing equipment mishaps. Enhanced training for pediatric intensive care unit transport is crucial to improve patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Patient transport safety
Context:
- Pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) are specialized centers for critically ill children.
- Inter- and intra-hospital transports are common for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
- Patient transport can introduce significant risks to vulnerable children.
Purpose:
- To prospectively evaluate transport-related problems in critically ill children.
- To identify common issues and complications during patient transfers within a hospital setting.
Summary:
- A study evaluated 200 critically ill children during transport.
- 43% of patients experienced equipment-related mishaps, including dislodged IVs and oxygen supply issues.
- 11% of patients showed physiological deterioration during transport, highlighting safety concerns.
Impact:
- Findings indicate a need for improved training and protocols for pediatric critical care transport.
- Addressing equipment mishaps and physiological instability can enhance patient outcomes during transfers.
Background:
Pediatric intensive care units have developed as treatment areas with a concentration of specialized equipment and personnel. Critically ill children often need to be moved to and from these critical care areas for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Such transport may pose additional risk to the critically ill patient.
Patients And Methods:
In order to assess the problems encountered in our transport process, a prospective study was performed. A questionnaire was undertaken to evaluate the transport of critically ill children hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar from Cádiz over an eleven month period.
Results:
Two hundred children transported were evaluated. Forty-seven (23.5%) were interhospital transported patients and one hundred fifty-three (76.5%) were intrahospital transported patients. The most common type of intrahospital transport involves transfers between the operating room and the intensive care unit (73 patients, 36.5%). Deterioration in respiratory, cardiovascular and other physiological systems was registered in twenty-two patients (11%). One hundred four equipment-related mishaps were noted in eighty-six patients (43%) during the transport process. Dislodgement of intravenous catheters, loss of oxygen supply, endotracheal tube problems and equipment malfunction were the most common mishaps noted.
Conclusions:
Our results would suggest that more training regarding the transport of the critically ill child are needed in our area.