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Transferring the critically ill patient: are we there yet?

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Abstract

During the past few decades the numbers of ICUs and beds has increased significantly, but so too has the demand for intensive care. Currently large, and increasing, numbers of critically ill patients require transfer between critical care units. Inter-unit transfer poses significant risks to critically ill patients, particularly those requiring multiple organ support. While the safety and quality of inter-unit and hospital transfers appear to have improved over the years, the effectiveness of specific measures to improve safety have not been confirmed by randomized controlled trials. It is generally accepted that critically ill patients should be transferred by specialized retrieval teams, but the composition, training and assessment of these teams is still a matter of debate. Since it is likely that the numbers and complexity of these transfers will increase in the near future, further studies are warranted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Critical Care, Research Program for Critical Care, Anesthesiology, Per-operative and Emergency medicine (CAPE), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Joep M Droogh, Marije Smit & Jan G Zijlstra

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Research Program for Critical Care, Anesthesiology, Per-operative and Emergency medicine (CAPE), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Anthony R Absalom

  3. Emergency Department, Research Program for Critical Care, Anesthesiology, Per-operative and Emergency medicine (CAPE), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Jack JM Ligtenberg

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  1. Joep M Droogh
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  2. Marije Smit
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Correspondence to Joep M Droogh.

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Droogh, J.M., Smit, M., Absalom, A.R. et al. Transferring the critically ill patient: are we there yet?. Crit Care 19, 62 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-015-0749-4

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