Interhospital critical care transports: have a safe trip!

Interhospital critical care transports: a safe trip indeed!

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Dear Editor, We thank Dr. Ligtenberg and colleges for their interest in our paper [1] and their subsequent correspondence [2], in which they comment on whether results of our study indicate that transports of critically ill patients in stable hemodynamic and respiratory condition with a mobile intensive care unit (MICU) can be safely performed by a team with a critical care nurse and a paramedic.We agree that a MICU represents a setting with limited personnel resources in the case the occurence of a critical event. Thereby, the authors' concern on the safety issue is well taken and indeed reflects the rationale of this trial.

We would like to stress that the objective of our study was not to detect a difference between the outcomes of two transport options using a classical superiority trial design, but to establish whether the omission of a critical care physician during MICU transports does not worsen the current transport protocol, which includes a physician.

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“…Dear Editor, We thank Dr. Ligtenberg and colleges for their interest in our paper [1] and their subsequent correspondence [2], in which they comment on whether results of our study indicate that transports of critically ill patients in stable hemodynamic and respiratory condition with a mobile intensive care unit (MICU) can be safely performed by a team with a critical care nurse and a paramedic.…”