Neonatal Transport Call

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 27, 2004

I'd like to hear some answers on this. We don't have people on call for transport. Unless we have a medical problem or are pregnant, all of us go out on transports. We always have one or two easy assignments on the unit and if we get an admission from L&D or a transport call, one of those nurses gives up her babies to other nurses and gets the new baby. We ususally start training for transport after one year and have to take a class, plus go out 2-3 times with another nurse for precepting.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Jul 27, 2004

We don't do call or get compensated for transport. It is strictly a voluntary thing...can't make a person risk life and limb if they don't want to. If we don't have a transport nurse on then Lifeflight goes. We take a class about the helicopter and ground transport, get registered with the FAA and then we wing it the first few times...not enough staff to have a preceptor and not enough room in the copter for another person. We go out with a fellow always and on the copter have a flight nurse, 2 pilots, and resp. therapy.

If it is truly something ugly and the Lifeflight nurse isn't comfortable, a regular staff can go, but it has to be by ground, no matter how far it is. If you haven't been copter certified and don't have a flight card, you cannot go by air.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2004

I should add that we are all expected to do ambulence transports (barring medical problems, like I mentioned before) but helicoptor transports are totally our choice. There are just about as many people terrified of the helicoptor (like me) as are people who are just dying for the chance to go on a flight. So it works out pretty well - about 2/3 of our unit does ambulence transport, and maybe 1/3 of those nurses also do helicoptor. For the flights, they need to take a special class, but they do not get precepted on their first flight - they've already been precepted and certified in ground transport, so it's not necessary - they just go with the regular flight crew plus our RT and MD.