Pediatric Intensive Care Transport Registry

In contrast to critical care transport of adults or newborns, transport of pediatric critical care patients in Germany is neither regulated by law nor centrally organized. Due to their different therapeutic needs compared to newborns or adults, critically ill children may receive insufficient treatment during transport. In some regions in Germany, pediatric centers provide specialized pediatric retrieval teams, while others organize each transport individually. Currently, no valid data on pediatric critical care transports in Germany are available, nor are they recorded in a structured manner.

A nationwide registry for pediatric intensive care transports in Germany was initiated to describe and analyze the need for and current practice of these specialized transports.

Inclusion criteria

• Critically ill children aged at least 27 days and a corrected gestational age of over 41 weeks AND
• Maximum age of 17 years AND
• Interhospital transport AND
• Critical care transport by a dedicated critical care transport team using an intensive care ambulance (Type C vehicle) or an air ambulance OR
• The transport was accompanied by a specialist in intensive care or emergency medicine. OR
• The in-hospital destination of the transport is a critical care area, such as an intensive care unit, a trauma room, a resuscitation area, an operating theatre, an emergency imaging procedure or an emergency intervention.