Interhospital transport of patients with COVID-19: Cleveland Clinic approach

Abigail S Brown; Fredric M Hustey; Anita J Reddy

doi:10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc045

Interhospital transport of patients with COVID-19: Cleveland Clinic approach

Cleve Clin J Med. 2020 Jun 9. doi: 10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc045. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Abigail S Brown¹, Fredric M Hustey², Anita J Reddy³

Affiliations

¹ Critical Care Transport, Medical Operations, Emergency Services Institute, Cleveland Clinic.
² Critical Care Transport, Medical Operations, Center for Emergency Medicine, Emergency Services Institute, Cleveland Clinic.
³ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Respiratory Institute, Cleveland Clinic.

PMID: 32518133
DOI: 10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc045

Abstract

Hospital-to-hospital transportation of patients in the COVID-19 era presents unique challenges to ensuring the safety of both patients and health care providers. Crucial factors to address include having adequate supplies of protective equipment and ensuring their appropriate use, defining patient care procedures during transport, and decontamination post-transport. Transport vehicles need to have adequate physical space, an isolated driver compartment, NS HEPA filtration of air. Having a standardized intake process can help identify patients who would benefit from transport to another facility.