Modes of Transport

Children's Transport Team provides the following modes of transportation: ambulance, rotor wing and fixed wing aircraft.

• MedaCare ambulance service has provided ground transport for Children's Transport team since 1998. Two new, state-of-the-art ambulances designed specifically for the needs of patients transported to Children's Hospital were added in 2004. A hydraulic lift system has been incorporated into each rig, providing safe transfer of patients requiring an isolette or mobile ECMO. The interior is equipped to serve as a mobile intensive care unit in a child-friendly environment. When necessary, a child may find it consoling to view a DVD or play a video game on the plasma screen TV while en-route to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

• Flight for Life (FFL) helicopter transport program, sponsored by Children's Hospital and Froedert Hospital, has provided rotor wing service with Children's Transport since the team's inception in 1988. When a patient's acuity requires the fastest available means, a helicopter transport is arranged. Children's Transport and FFL provide transport service to a diverse patient population. The helicopter can be converted quickly to accommodate an isolette for an inter-facility transport of a premature infant, or a gurney needed for an 18-year old involved in a motor vehicle crash.

• Fixed Wing medical transport service is considered when the referring health care facility is located outside a 200-mile radius of Children's Hospital. The aircraft is medically equipped to provide safe transfer of the most critical patients. Along with the ambulance and helicopter, the fixed wing aircraft is able to accommodate either a gurney or an isolette. The addition of the Aerosled, a system that puts less physical strain on personnel, means the patient can be easily and safely transferred from the aircraft to the ambulance for ground transport from the airport to Children's Hospital.