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We thank Kate Reeves for her interest in and favorable comments on our article about critically ill patient transportation from the emergency unit.1 We have read Kate Reeves' report entitled “Design and Usage of an Advanced Cardiac Life Support Transport Cart”2 and understand the concepts she described. The benefits of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) transport cart for transporting critically ill patients are well known, and in addition to transportation equipment, transportation guidelines have also been well established.3 However, the incidence of mishaps during and in connection with patient transportation remains high according to the results of one recent study.4 Staff cannot resolve all problems related to critically ill patient transportation based only on guidelines or using an ACLS transport cart. How to implement and maintain the transportation guidelines as used by staff may be a more important issue after setting up the process. With the goals of patient safety and monitoring of the transportation process, our quality-control work on critically ill patient transport included defining indicators, establishment and implementation of guidelines, and maintenance of the process. The strategies for critically ill patient transportation include training of health care workers, setting up of equipment, and transportation method design. The ACLS cart concept is only a part of the transportation process. We thank Kate Reeves for sharing her experience about designing an ACLS transport cart. In our experience, implementation guidelines, staff training, transport method design, and monitoring of the transport process also play important roles in the transportation of critically ill patients.
References
- Quality control work group focusing on practical guidelines for improving safety of critically ill patient transportation in the emergency department. J Emerg Nurs. 2010;36(2):140–145
- . Design and usage of an advanced cardiac life support transport cart. J Emerg Nurs. 1985;11(6):333–335
- . Guidelines for the inter- and intrahospital transport of critically ill patients. Crit Care Med. 2004;32(1):256–262
- . Adverse events experienced while transferring the critically ill patient from the emergency department to the intensive care unit. Emerg Med J. 2006;23(11):858–861
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PII: S0099-1767(10)00221-7
doi:10.1016/j.jen.2010.05.002
© 2010 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Refers to article:
- Patient Transportation
