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Review
. 2023;14(1):3-9.
doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2023.009.

Patient care during interfacility transport: a narrative review of managing diverse disease states

Quincy K Tran  1   2 , Francis O'Connell  3 , Andrew Hakopian  3 , Marwa Sh Abrahim  3 , Kamilla Beisenova  3 , Ali Pourmand  3
Affiliations
Review

Patient care during interfacility transport: a narrative review of managing diverse disease states

Quincy K Tran et al. World J Emerg Med. 2023.

Abstract

Background: When critically ill patients require specialized treatment that exceeds the capability of the index hospitals, patients are frequently transferred to a tertiary or quaternary hospital for a higher level of care. Therefore, appropriate and efficient care for patients during the process of transport between two hospitals (interfacility transfer) is an essential part of patient care. While medical adverse events may occur during the interfacility transfer process, there have not been evidence-based guidelines regarding the equipment or the practice for patient care during transport.

Methods: We conducted searches from the PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and Scopus databases up to June 2022. Two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts for eligibility. Studies that were not in the English language and did not involve critically ill patients were excluded.

Results: The search identified 75 articles, and we included 48 studies for our narrative review. Most studies were observational studies.

Conclusion: The review provided the current evidence-based management of diverse disease states during the interfacility transfer process, such as proning positioning for respiratory failure, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), obstetric emergencies, and hypertensive emergencies (aortic dissection and spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage).

Keywords: Critically ill patients; Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Hypertensive emergencies; Interfacility transfer; Interhospital transfer; Obstetric emergencies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors do not have a financial interest or relationship to disclose regarding this research project.

References

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