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FIGURE 11.7 Transport communication center A dedicated transport communication center and skilled personnel are invaluable in coordinating all aspects of pediatric transport The system should include dedicated phone lines, radio access, personnel notification capability systems, and personnel (Used with permission, Rupinder Sandhu, © Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA.) Communication with the transport team begins with an initial call/request from the referring provider This initial contact is best managed by the use of a protocol or template, which helps ensure that the necessary patient and logistical information is properly received by the transport team During the initial call or soon thereafter, the referring provider may request advice regarding the medical management of the patient, which may be offered by the receiving physician For critically ill infants and children, medical advice via telephone may be needed intermittently from the time of initial contact through transport team arrival, to the patient evaluation at the referring facility, through the arrival at definitive location in the receiving facility For these reasons, it is preferable to have transport requests initiated and received by experienced physicians who can ask for and offer appropriate advice directly The more people between the source of the information and the final recipient, the greater the potential for significant changes or omissions that may be vital to the patient Nurse report should also occur between the transport nurse and the referral’s bedside nurse; these conversations are important sources of crucial information about clinical status, medications, access, etc These two avenues of information flow together can maximize awareness of all aspects of the patient’s disease process and current medical condition, and enable the transport team to be optimally prepared for care of their patient