Neonatal Transport

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Neonatal Transport

Collage of images featuring the Neonatal Transport Team at work.The Neonatal Transport team at the University of Mississippi Medical Center specializes in the retrieval of sick newborns from hospitals across the state of Mississippi, with transport to the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units at UMMC and other area hospitals according to their specific needs.

The team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to transfer infants by helicopter or ground ambulance. The team is staffed around the clock by a primary team of seven neonatal nurses and a neonatal nurse practitioner with many years of experience in newborn transport and neonatal intensive care, with the ability to manage multiple critical transports simultaneously. The team receives additional support from registered nurses and paramedics who are experienced in transport and neonatal/pediatric care.

Referrals for the newborn team are coordinated by UMMC physicians trained in neonatal and pediatric intensive care, and these specialists remain in contact with the team to manage care as needed en route.

The team provides care for newborns with a vast array of problems, including extreme prematurity, congenital heart defects, and severe respiratory issues. Specialized equipment is available to provide care specific to the tiniest patients, creating a “mobile NICU” environment, on the ground or in the air. Incubators, respiratory equipment in the smallest sizes, ventilators, a vast array of medications, and other necessities are ready for travel to provide complete care for the most critically ill newborns. The team is also experienced in the use of inhaled nitric oxide, a special therapy used to treat persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a serious and often difficult to anticipate cardiorespiratory illness that can present suddenly after birth.

The neonatal transport team at UMMC was founded in the 1970s, and it has evolved through several decades to meet the challenging needs of Mississippi's tiniest and sickest patients. Over thousands of referrals and transports since that time, our team has developed strong relationships with hospitals in every corner of the state. We enter the 21st century ready to meet new challenges, embrace new technology and serve our state's youngest citizens in the best way possible.

Two Neonatal Transport team members conversing in front of a helicopter.Neonatal incubator.