Criteria for Patient Selection
NETS provides critical care transport
and skilled clinical assessment prior to transport. Patients needing medical
retrieval by NETS fall into two major age groups: Neonatal
and Infants/Children
and there are criteria dealing with each group separately.
Although not all transported patients
may require intensive care, NETS can assist in the triage process - especially
at hospitals of Level 3
[1]
and below. NETS is planning to offer sub-intensive care transport
from Level 4, 5 or 6 hospitals.
The decision about using a
medical retrieval team from NETS (viz. doctor + nurse) requires discussion. In
general, patients who are hæmodynamically stable, with no compromise of the
airway and no more than mild respiratory distress do not need NETS. Where the
referring hospital has specialist pædiatric services on site, it is more likely
that such a patient can be triaged for nurse escort (using referring hospital
nurse or ambulance flight nurse).
If in doubt, NETS should be contacted. On some occasions (especially in hospitals without specialist pædiatric services), a NETS team may need to assess the patient at the referring hospital before the need for intensive care can be determined.