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East Tennessee Children's Hospital's Lifeline looks like a regular ambulance, but it is actually an "intensive care unit on wheels."
The ambulance carries equipment and medications necessary for transporting critical patients, such as an isolette for premature or ill newborns, and various monitors that evaluate respiratory efforts, cardiac status and other vital signs in patients from birth through 21 years.
The hospital's two Lifeline vehicles travel tens of thousands of miles each year, visiting dozens of different hospitals in surrounding states and transporting several hundred pediatric and neonatal patients annually. Unexpected medical problems can be frightening for you and your child, especially an unexpected transport to another hospital. The following is a fictitious story of a patient who was transported by the Lifeline van. Hi, I'm Cherise, and I want to tell you about the time that I rode to Children's Hospital in Lifeline. My mom and dad took me to the Emergency Department at a hospital close to our house because I was not feeling well, and the doctors there decided that I needed special care from Children's Hospital. When my doctor told me I was going to have to ride to Children's Hospital in a special ambulance, I was kind of nervous. But soon I found out that it wasn't scary, and the Lifeline team was very nice and really wanted me to get better. The doctors in the Scott M Niswonger
Emergency Room at my hometown hospital called Children's Hospital and told
the doctors there about me and said to come pick me up so that I could go
to Children's Hospital to get well. When Lifeline got to the hospital, I
met four people who came to help me. There were two nurses, a respiratory
therapist and a driver. Then they put me on a cool bed with wheels called a stretcher. Once I was on the stretcher, they rolled me outside and lifted me into the huge Lifeline van. I thought it was more like a motor home than a van or ambulance. I asked if the stretcher would roll around when I was inside the van, but the nurse told me that it was locked into place, and I was very safe. Mom and Dad drove behind the van to Children's Hospital. Once I was inside the van, a lot of my tubes and wires were attached to the walls, just like in a hospital room. The nurse told me that this was not just an ambulance, but it was more like an intensive care unit on wheels. Most ambulances try to get patients to the hospital very fast, but Lifeline has everything that a hospital does, so their goal is to help me get well on the way to the hospital.
When we got to Children's Hospital, we went through the Scott M. Niswonger Emergency Department and then up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, where I met more nurses and doctors who were there to take care of me. Even though I didn't feel very good when I rode on Lifeline, the Lifeline team was friendly, and they made me laugh. I think it would be fun to ride in it now that I am well again! |
The
transport team of medical personnel that rides Lifeline is just as important
as the equipment. The team may include a neonatologist, nurse practitioner,
neonatal- or pediatric trained registered nurse, respiratory therapist and
emergency medical technicians. Lifeline is equipped for patients ranging from
the tiniest premature newborn to an adult-sized teenager.
They
talked to the staff in the emergency room about how I felt and then put wires
with sticky tape on my chest to read my heartbeats, and they put a soft clip
on my finger that read my pulse and told them about the amount of oxygen in
my blood. They also put a small plastic mask over my nose and mouth that gave
me oxygen to help me breathe better. Even though it covered my mouth, I could
still talk. I also got an IV, which is a long skinny flexible tube, like a
straw, that is attached to a needle. It puts medicine and fluids into my body
to make me better. When they put the IV in my hand, it hurt a little, but not
too bad.
During the ride, the nurses talked to me and made me feel safe. They read me a book, and we even watched a video. One of the nurses sang along with the video to make me laugh. I know Mom was scared, but I think it made her feel better because all of the people were so nice. 