Guidelines for the Transport of Critically Ill Patients

malfunction. Further, a reduced availability of personnel, equipment and monitoring away from ICU may be detrimental The first indication that transport with in hospital is a dangerous undertaking was provided in early 1970's when arrhythmias were encountered in upto 84% of transport of patients with cardiac disease, which required emergency therapy in 44 % of cases (1). Hypotension and arrhythmias occur predominantly in mechanically ventilated patients (2, 3). Events being closely related to periods of hypoventilation or hyperventilation with changes of pCO2 of up to 27 mm Hg. Respiratory complications include changes in respiratory rate, fall in PaO2 (4). In patients with head injury, adverse effects include hypotension, hypoxia and increased intracranial pressure. Equipment related complications include ECG lead disconnection, monitor power failure, disconnection of intravenous or intra arterial lines or from the ventilator itself (4). Failure of suction apparatus to work during transport or accidental extubation would lead to disastrous consequences. To prevent all such complications, various guidelines for transport of critically ill patients were reported by representatives from several major critical care societies. These introduce the minimum requirements, which should be available during the transport of any patient in serious condition. General Principles Definition:- Critically ill patients are those that by dysfunction or failure of one or more organs/system depend on survival from advanced instruments of monitoring and therapy (5). Transport of critically ill patients is an established practice in today's field of emergency medicine. Many potential problems may be avoided by optimization of the patient's condition before transport. Despite all efforts taken to minimize any complication arising during transport, we still have a long way to go and a Herculean task ahead of us