A final-draft report, “Recommendations for the Safe Transportation of Children in Ground Ambulances,” was issued in July by NHTSA.  For the first time a series of best practice scenarios were presented to cover common situations, such as a child requiring medical interventions during transport and an uninjured child accompanying a injured or ill adult in an ambulance. (The scope of this effort did not include inter-hospital transport by ambulance.) In order to be practicable, the scenarios include the ideal method and the suggestions if the ideal cannot be met.
  The report was developed by a working group composed of representatives from the key federal agencies, such as Health Resources and Services Administration of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and national stakeholders. Examples of stakeholder organizations are the National Council of Firefighters, American Ambulance Association, Emergency Nurses Association, and the American Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. 
   NHTSA held a public meeting in Washington D.C. on August 5 to allow stakeholders to comment on the report.  According to Sandy Sinclair of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the comments received in person and through other means were generally very positive and constructive.  The presentations from the meeting are now available for your review.  To view the agenda and presentations, visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/CPS and under “More Information” on the lower left hand, click on “Transportation of Children in Ground Ambulances.”  Additional materials on the overall project can be reviewed at http://nhtsa-ems.mci-it.com/Default.aspx.

References for ambulance articles:
“Recommendations for the Safe Transportation of Children in Ground Ambulances,” NHTSA , summarized in Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 137, Monday, July 19, 2010, pp 41923–26. Go to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html and search by page number or other identifier.

©Safe Ride News July/August 2010