Objective: Confidence treating critically ill infants presenting to general ED may be limited by inexperience, with procedures deferred until specialised transport teams arrive.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study analysed critical procedures performed by referring ED physicians, compared with a neonatal emergency transport service, on infants transferred over a 12-month period.
Results: All 150 eligible infants were included, with median (interquartile range) age 28 (16-43) days. Forty critical procedures were performed in this cohort. Of 26 intubations, 17 (65%) were performed by local ED physicians.
Conclusion: Referring ED physicians perform the majority of critical procedures where infants require inter-hospital transfer by neonatal emergency transport service.
Keywords: critical procedure; emergency department; endotracheal intubation; neonatal transport.
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