Non-emergency newborn transport service

Non-emergency newborn transport service

NETS returns babies to hospitals closer to home after they no longer require intensive care. NETS coordinates the road and air transport of these patients, supported by NETS' ambulances and Emergency Vehicle Operators (EVOs). For longer duration missions, Air Ambulance Flight Nurses may form part of the transfer team. 

The service operates 7 days a week from early morning to mid evening. There are three teams each weekday and one on weekends. A nurse scheduler coordinates the activity. 

These non-emergency transfers are key to ensuring that care is as close to home as possible. Premature babies can spend up to 4 months in hospital and most of that time doesn't need to be in a NICU. When a baby reaches a stage in care when the equivalent care can be provided locally, then it may be time to transfer closer to home.  

This service operates from the John Hunter Children's Hospital, Canberra Hospital and NETS Sydney base. 

Sydney service

The Sydney Non-emergency newborn transport service, services the neonatal intensive care units of Sydney and the Level 4 special care units of 'greater' Sydney; from Wollongong to Gosford. 

The Sydney service operates using non-emergency nurses specifically employed for this purpose and with Level 2 life support systems designed for one or two babies to be moved at once. 

NETS ambulances operated by Emergency Vehicle Operators (EVOs) complete the team, which take patients distances of up to about 3 hours driving time away from the referring hospital. 

Appointment transfers

Some of these babies may need to return to neonatal intensive care for appointments such as for retinopathy review. The Service brings these babies back to such appointments and then, in another booking NETS will return them back to the local hospital. 

Somewhat sicker babies, still needing respiratory support such as Humidified High Flow or CPAP or other special treatments will continue to be moved by NETS' medical retrieval teams from neonatal intensive care to Level 4 special care units. 

In addition, the service transports inpatients for a specialist appointment at a tertiary neonatal hospital and then returns the patient to the local hospital. Patients will be moved to hospitals up to a distance of approximately 3 hours’ road driving time from Sydney. Requests for transfer outside these guidelines requires approval. 

Inclusion criteria

  • Inpatients of a NSW public hospital in greater Sydney being care for in a:
    • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (level 5/6)( including High Dependency Unit and Special Care Unit)
    • Neonatal Special Care 
  •  For transfer and admission to a public and private hospital
  • Care needs can be provided in a Level 2, 3 or 4 hospital
  • Weight ≤ 6kg or length ≤ 65cm
  • Respiratory support (none, low flow oxygen by face mask or nasal prongs or incubator oxygen)
  •  Monitoring
    • Cardiorespiratory and/or oxygen saturation monitoring
  • Peripheral IV access – capped or receiving IV fluid therapy
  • Patients with a stable CVL/PICC (excluding UAC/UVC)

The following are included but only for patients going from Level 6 to Level 5 or where the therapy can be administered in the receiving hospital:

  • Patients receiving IV fluids; including TPN & Lipids
  • Patients receiving continuous low volume tube feeds – transpyloric, PEG, jejunal

 

Exclusion criteria

 Patients

  • requiring emergency transfer to a tertiary level hospital (Level 5, 6) 
  • who are intubated and ventilated 
  • receiving CPAP/BiPAP 
  • receiving Humidified High Flow Nasal Prong (HHFNP) therapy 
  • with a UAC/UVC 
  • with a tracheostomy 
  • receiving cytotoxic medications 
  • on opioid infusions, excluding for narcotic weaning and/or palliative care 
  • being cared for on home devices that are not approved or certified to travel with the non-emergency newborn transport service 
  • equipment that is unable to be appropriately secured in the NETS ambulance 
  • requiring a level of care outside of the scope of practice of the receiving hospital 
  • requiring sedation and/or general anaesthetic.  

Bookings

Patients are booked through the Patient Flow Portal. A non-emergency newborn transport nurse is assigned by a scheduler to ensure patients are transported safely. 

EVOs for this service are part of a pool of EVOs who support clinical teams for both emergency retrievals and return transfers.