Page 136 - HA Convention 2015

Symposiums

S4.1 Getting the Right Patient to the Right Place 14:30 Convention Hall A

Tuesday, 19 May Infrastructure and System Design for Optimal Inter-facility Transports
Whyte H
Acute Care Transport Services, Neonatology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada

The development of regionalised care for newborns and children has necessitated the transport of critically ill patients
amongst facilities providing different levels of care. The most time sensitive being the emergent transfers who require timely
access to tertiary healthcare facilities. The ability to take the intensive care environment to the patient, stabilise and safely
transfer the patient to the tertiary setting most appropriate for their needs has resulted in the development of specialised
transport teams. These teams are the instrument of regionalised care and must operate in a system which supports their
function. Despite recommendations for interfacility transport for neonates and children by the American Academy of
Paediatrics (AAP) section on transport medicine, variations in practice exist both in Canada and the United States as outlined
by Karlsen in her publication.

Most intensive care units rely on hospital-based transport teams using local emergency medical services vehicles. The
populations served, team composition, training and evaluation, processes and transport infrastructure differ widely. Lack of
standardisation in equipment, education, clinical competencies and quality indicators together with lack of resources can
create barriers to optimal care. There are no mandatory requirements for credentialing or accreditation of the interfacility
transport programmes. Recently developed Canadian standards exist for Emergency Medical Services pre-hospital care
(www.accreditation.ca). The Canadian Academic Paediatric Health Centers (CAPHC) struck a transport task force to develop
a set of recommendations for an ideal system and the processes required for the optimal outcome of high risk mothers,
newborns and children requiring transport to a higher level of care. This includes consideration for land or air ambulance
transport; ready access to medical advice, triage and team dispatch and identification of the receiving physician and hospital
bed. These are based on literature review, consensus opinion and best practice guidelines. These recommendations for
system design and infrastructure will be discussed in this presentation.

S4.2 Getting the Right Patient to the Right Place 14:30 Convention Hall A

Aeromedical Retrieval Services
Haerkens M
Wings of Care, The Netherlands

Patient transport by air is a challenging mission, both in the civilian and military setting. In this presentation the physiological,
operational and staffing issues of Dutch aeromedical retrieval services in both the civilian (Helicopter Emergency Service –
HEMS) and military (Medevac/Stratevac) operation are discussed.

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