About Us
Our Transport Team Is There When Minutes Make a Difference
If you have a critically ill newborn or an injured child, getting the best medical care as quickly as possible can mean the difference between life and death. When it comes to traumatic situations, we are trained to help things go as smoothly as possible.
We have the only transport team in Greater Cincinnati dedicated exclusively to providing hospital-to-hospital transportation for critically ill children and newborns. Formally established in 1988, we transport more than 2,800 patients each year. These patients require critical care for a variety of reasons, including premature birth, traumatic injury, congenital anomalies, respiratory distress, seizures, cardiac abnormalities and complex medical and surgical problems.
We bring the expertise of Cincinnati Children’s to the referring institution. Because of our specialized training and equipment, we are able to provide high-quality intensive care to the critically ill or injured child.
Our team of registered nurses, respiratory therapists and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are trained specifically in newborn and pediatric intensive care, emergency and transport medicine, trauma and altitude physiology. We are certified in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and the Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC). In some circumstances, physicians trained in neonatal or pediatric critical care accompany us on transports.
We also have an advanced life support team (ALS) staffed by two nationally registered paramedics (NREMT-P) who operate under specific protocols approved by the transport team medical director. Our nurses and paramedic dispatchers delegate transport requests to the appropriate care team. The team communicates with the medical staff through pagers, landlines, cell phones and two-way radios.
The equipment we use is designed specifically for children, not adapted for them. Our child-friendly ambulances help ease the tension for kids, who can choose to watch a video, listen to music or rest in a soothing, child-oriented environment. We encourage parents to accompany us during transport and participate in our family-centered care. We also specially configured our aircraft.
Our philosophy is to provide children and their families with the highest quality of care, by the safest and most efficient means during their trip to or from Cincinnati Children’s.
