Cause analysis of adverse events in the transport of critically ill patients

NING Bo; ZHANG Li-li; ZHANG Xiao-hui; MA Yu-jie

Abstract：Objective We aimed to analyze the incidence of adverse events in the transport of critically ill patients, and to facilitate the safe transport. Method 369 patients transported with APACHE≥15 from January 2010 to December 2013 were included, among which the department of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) participated in 158 cases. The criteria of adverse events in the transport is: the change of heart rate ≥30%; systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg, and not restore after the 5-minutes-treatment; severe hypoxia, the value of transcutaneous oxygen saturation ≤80%; requiring emergency intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; died within 30 minutes into the department. The incidence of adverse events was calculated. Results The incidence of adverse events was 3.5%, mainly caused by hypoxia, hemodynamic instability, and not suitable for transport. However, there was no incidence of adverse events when the ICU participated in, including 3 cases of air-plane transport with more than 2 hours of flying, and 2 cases of long distance transport with longer than 10 hours of journey. Conclusion Before transport, careful assessment, full preparation, and necessary contingency plan are very necessary. After transport training, the adverse events in the transport can be reduced when the experienced medical staff is involved.