Importance of specialized paediatric and neonatal transport. Current situation in Spain: Towards a more equitable and universal future

Abstract

Specialized paediatric and neonatal transport is a useful and essential resource in the interhospital transfer of these patients. It allows bringing the material and personal resources of an intensive care unit closer to the regional hospitals where the patient can be found. The benefits of these teams are very well demonstrated in the literature. These units should be part of the emergency systems, while it would be recommended that they would be staff integrated in the tertiary hospitals, in order to maintain the necessary skills and competencies. The team, made up of physicians, nurses and emergency medical technicians, must master both the pathophysiology of transport and that of the critical patient in this age range. A high-quality of both human and care is important, so continuous training and periodic recycling will be essential to be compliant with the quality indicators in transport. Likewise, it is essential to have specific vehicles adapted to this function, which allow carrying the wide variety of necessary material, as well as the electromedicine that is required. However, in Spain this paediatric and neonatal transport model is not standardized and, therefore, is not homogeneous: there are different models that do not always provide adequate quality, making it necessary to implement specialized units throughout the country to guarantee sanitary transport quality to any critical child or neonate.