Open AccessCritical Care Transfer Quality 2000–2009: Systematic Review to Inform the ICS Guidelines for Transport of the Critically Ill Adult (3rd ed)
Author(s) -
Helen Barratt
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the journal of the intensive care society/journal of the intensive care society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.551
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 2057-360X
pISSN - 1751-1437
DOI - 10.1177/175114371201300409
Subject(s) - critically ill , medicine , audit , quality (philosophy) , systematic review , intensive care medicine , intensive care , medline , accounting , business , philosophy , epistemology , political science , law
This paper describes the findings of a systematic literature review that was undertaken to inform the third edition of the Intensive Care Society's (ICS) Guidelines for the Transport of the Critically Ill Adult, which has recently been published. Thirty-eight articles were identified relating to the process of adult patient transfer. The bulk of the articles related to transfer quality, including review articles and audits assessing both the standard of transfers and compliance with relevant guidelines. The review demonstrates that the quality of transfers remains a concern, but much of the data is from single centre audits and case series, which are thought to provide the weakest level of evidence. The guidelines have been extensively updated to reflect both current practice and emerging evidence, but it is clear that measures are still needed to improve the quality of transfers.