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Children's Hospital Transport Service
All of the ambulances across the street from the clinic at Regional Health System were out on calls. Furthermore, Morgan cried uncontrollably when separated from her mother, yet only the patient and emergency team are allowed on a helicopter transport. "I thought she was going to have to take the helicopter," Varamini says. "Before this, I had heard that ambulances from other hospitals aren't allowed to go into other counties. But then they told me about this new ambulance." 
The ambulance to which Varamini refers is a new service provided by Children's Hospital in Columbia that began operating just days before Morgan's asthma attack. John Pardalos, MD, neonatologist and medical director of the Children's Hospital Transport Service, says that although a perinatal-neonatal transport service has existed for more than 25 years at the hospital, that program did not serve older children. "For years, doctors have had to close up their clinic and accompany sick children in an ambulance to Columbia," Pardalos explains. "Now with our new ambulance, they can stay in their office and care for other patients." Pardalos says the transport team's special training allows the service to complement the emergency care provided in communities throughout Missouri. By activating the ambulance, local emergency response teams can stay within their primary service areas. The only service of its kind outside of St. Louis and Kansas City, the 17-member Children's Hospital transport team is highly skilled in the areas of perinatal, neonatal and pediatric transportation. The group is composed of registered nurses, respiratory therapists, neonatologists and pediatric intensivists. Pardalos and the rest of the transport team staff the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ambulance meets a critical need by providing several special features for children of all ages, including ventilators for neonates and older children, pediatric cardiac apnea equipment and IV pumps for all age groups as well as isolettes and pediatric stretchers. The ambulance also includes built-in car seats, kid-friendly decor and a television and VCR for diversion therapy. Morgan and her mother, Brooke Hart, found this feature especially comforting. Because Morgan experienced a similar severe asthma attack earlier this winter in which she started to gasp for air, turn blue and grow listless, Hart suspected the latest attack would again lead to hospitalization. Before jumping into the car and driving from their home in Cross Timbers, Mo., to the Osage Beach clinic, she grabbed a few clothes and Morgan's favorite movie in case the hospital room had a VCR. She was pleasantly surprised to find a VCR on the ambulance. "She watched that video, talked to the staff on the ambulance and never cried once," Hart says. Morgan spent two days in the pediatric intensive-care unit and two days in the regular pediatric unit before the family returned home with a nebulizer, albuterol and strict orders to stay primarily at home and away from smokers and large groups of people. Hart says she is grateful for the care Morgan received from the transport team during the trip to Columbia. "I was really scared because my little girl is never away from me and doesn't go to anybody else. But they were really quick and good with her." Varamini agrees, stressing that the transport went smoothly and that she received a fax outlining Morgan's treatment prior to her discharge. "I'm pleased with the care she received," Varamini says. "It's one of the very good experiences I've had with Children's Hospital." |
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Awaiting room packed with sick children at the height of flu season was just one problem facing pediatrician Nadereh Varamini, MD, on Jan. 20. When 22-month-old Morgan Hart arrived at Osage Beach Medical Park in Osage Beach, Mo., in the middle of a serious asthma attack, Varamini knew she needed to be admitted to a hospital that specialized in pediatric critical care. Getting her there, however, began to look tricky. 
