Pediatric Transport Team | Pediatric and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PICU) | UC Davis Children's Hospital

• The transport team has quick access to fixed-wing, helicopter and/or ground transport services.
• The team carries out more than 400 transports each year.
• A medical control physician remains in communication and in command of the team at all times.
• The team is comprised of dedicated and experienced physicians and advanced role nurses from the Pediatric and Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.
• When on-call for transport duty, transport team members remain “out-of-count” and do not affect PICU/PCICU staff-patient ratios when called into service.
• Transport services are available to pediatric patients throughout our 33-county service area — and sometimes beyond — 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

When a referring physician believes a patient is in need of a higher-level of diagnosis or care, UC Davis Children’s Hospital assembles its Pediatric Transport Team. Comprised of a medical control physician and advanced role nurses, the team works with the referring physician to determine the needs of the patient. In many cases, diagnosis and treatment guidance may be provided through the telemedicine program. This allows the child to stay in a community hospital while his or her physician consults with UC Davis specialists utilizing teleconferencing technology.

If the team decides it would be best to transfer the patient, they select the most efficient form of transport possible — fixed-wing, helicopter and/or ground resources.

Transport team members have extensive training and experience in specialized care and technology available for seriously injured or ill children, infants and newborns. The team is supervised by a UC Davis critical care pediatrician.

The best care begins with the right equipment. The transport team nurses are trained to intubate and manage ventilators, when necessary. Inhaled nitric oxide is available for pediatric patients with pulmonary hypertension. High flow nasal cannula is also available on transport for pediatric patients.

Throughout the ride, the transport team provides continuous pediatric inter-hospital critical care support, ensuring that patients arrive safely at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.