To ensure the best possible outcomes, critically ill and injured children must be treated at facilities most prepared to address their needs. To that end, hospitals should have Interfacility Transfer Agreements (written formalized arrangements between health care facilities) that specify alternate care sites capable of meeting the clinical needs of critically ill and injured pediatric patients and appropriate guidelines that outline procedural and administrative policies for transferring pediatric patients to facilities that provide specialized pediatric care.

National Organization and Federal Agency Resources
American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org (not a U.S. government website)

• Guidelines for Air and Ground Transport of Neonatal and Pediatric Patients (not a U.S. government website) (2006). In its third edition, this resource is geared for health care professionals who make decisions about pediatric emergency interfacility transport and includes a sample Interfacility Transfer Agreement.

Dr. Bruce Klein, chief of the Division of Transport Medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Transport Medicine, shares his thoughts on the significance of interfacility transfer agreements between hospitals, and particularly on the role these formal agreements play in the care of critically ill or injured children.

EMSC National Resource Center and Grant Database Search

• Developing a Pediatric Severity of Illness Model for Transport System Evaluation and Triage, Richard A. Orr, MD, University of Pittsburgh (MCH-424003-01-0) (not a U.S. government website)
• Outcome Assessment in Interfacility Transport, Richard A. Orr, MD, University of Pittsburgh (1434-MC-00040-01) (not a U.S. government website)

National Library of Medicine PubMed Journal Search

• The State of Pediatric Interfacility Transport: Consensus of The Second National Pediatric and Neonatal Interfacility Transport Medicine Leadership Conference. (not a U.S. government website) Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000, conclusions from this national meeting of transport leaders are presented in the consensus statement.
• Guidelines for the Inter- and Intrahospital Transport of Critically Ill Patients (not a U.S. government website) Critical Care Medicine. 32(1):256-262, January 2004. Warren, Jonathan MD, FCCM, FCCP; Fromm, Robert E. Jr, MD, MPH, MS; Orr, Richard A. MD; Rotello, Leo C. MD, FCCM, FCCP, FACP; Horst, H. Mathilda MD, FCCM; American College of Critical Care Medicine

National Library of Medicine PubMed journal article database

Other Family and Caregiver Resources:

• What is a Pediatric/Neonatal Critical Care Transport Team? (not a U.S. government website) Developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Transportation Medicine, this document provides explanation on the need for and composition of pediatric-specific transport teams. (not a U.S. government website)
• Transport Dispatch. (not a U.S. government website) A periodic publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Transport Medicine, this newsletter serves both health care providers and the general public by providing timely information related to pediatric transport issues. (not a U.S. government website)
• Woodward GA, Fleegler EW. Should parents accompany pediatric interfacility ground ambulance transports? Results of a national survey of pediatric transport team managers. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2001; 17(1):22-27.
• Woodward GA, Fleegler EW. Should parents accompany pediatric interfacility ground ambulance transport? The parent's perspective. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2000;16(6):383-390.