nytflytrn

i work as a neonatal/pediatric transport nurse and with a 2.5 hour trip by ground i must admit i probably would have also attempted to needle decompress the chest. i agree with the others who stated it is much preferable to do these types of procedures in the stability of the referring hospital's nursery than to attempt them in the back of a helicopter or ambulance. in response to the second part of the question ... yes, we have protocols and procedures we follow. they are more like standing orders as the physicians have trained and tested us and trust us to be their eyes and ears on the road. if we run into an unusual situation or something that we are uncomfortable with we do have a medical command officer (neonatologist for NICU trips and PICU resident for peds trips) with whom we have direct telephone contact. our team is RN/RT and EMT driver

i work as a neonatal/pediatric transport nurse and with a 2.5 hour trip by ground i must admit i probably would have also attempted to needle decompress the chest. i agree with the others who stated it is much preferable to do these types of procedures in the stability of the referring hospital's nursery than to attempt them in the back of a helicopter or ambulance. in response to the second part of the question ... yes, we have protocols and procedures we follow. they are more like standing orders as the physicians have trained and tested us and trust us to be their eyes and ears on the road. if we run into an unusual situation or something that we are uncomfortable with we do have a medical command officer (neonatologist for NICU trips and PICU resident for peds trips) with whom we have direct telephone contact.

i work as a flight nurse and i feel i need to carry my cellphone at all times as i never know where in the country i might end up during my shift. when on a flight of course the phone is turned off, however, it also functions as a pda in which all of my protocols are carried as well as med calculations and other information i need to access quickly. my family knows that if they call and i am busy i will not answer the phone. most of the time i get a quick text message from them which eliminates the need to call them back at all. as many others have said if we act like adults and use the phones responsibly these policies would not be necessary.