Intrahospital transport of critically ill patients: Complications and difficulties

An audit of 97 intrahospital transports of critically ill patients was undertaken within Westmead Hospital. The aims of this audit were to assess all factors that ma-v lead to problems during intrahospital transports. At the completion of a transport medical staff were asked to provide information about their patient and their treatment, as well as any difficulties they may have encountered Overall, 62% of transports reported some difficulty or complication. Of these, 31% were patient-related and 45% were related to equipment or the transport environment. (15% encountered problems in both areas). Many of the difficulties were preventable with adequate pre-transport communication and planning. Other problems were directly related to the increased severity of illness in these patients.