NeoNotes
Journal Club
Andrew B. Kairalla MD, Editor
5-018 | Additional Comments | Previous Article | Next Article | Search | List of Articles | Submit Comments | Index | FSN Home Page
Kangaroo Transport
Kangaroo Transport Instead of Incubator Transport. Sontheimer D, Fischer CB, and Buch KE. PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 4 April 2004, pp. 920-923.
Objective. Compared with in utero transport, incubator transport for preterm infants has several disadvantages including instability during transport with increased mortality and morbidity, lack of adequate systems for securing the infant in the event of an accident, and separation of mother and infant. As a new kind of postnatal transportation that bears some analogy to in utero transport and may be safer than incubator transport, we investigated kangaroo transport, transporting the infant on the mother’s or other caregiver’s chest. This article presents a description and preliminary data for kangaroo transport.
Design. We conducted kangaroo transports of 31 stable preterm and term infants in different settings and recorded data regarding transport conditions and cardiorespiratory stability. Eighteen transports were back transfers, and 13 were transfers in. Twenty-seven transports were conducted by the mother, 1 by the father, 2 by nurses, and 1 by a doctor. Transport distance was 2 to 400 km.
Results. Heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and rectal temperature remained stable during all kangaroo transports lasting 10 to 300 minutes. Weight at transport was 1220 to 3720 g. Parents felt very comfortable and safe and appreciated this method of transport.
Conclusions. Kangaroo transport promotes mother-infant closeness and might ameliorate several of the risks associated with incubator transport.
Comment. Sometimes “low-tech” is better than “high-tech”.
ABK
Date: 21 May 2004
Time: 08:37:55
After attending a safety in transport conference, this would be anything but
safe! We are BIG proponants of Kangaroo Care,with me at the top of
the list,
but are bigger proponants of making sure our babies are safe. I am a
transport nurse and am aware of what can occur in back of an ambulance.
Even a low speed accident would make the baby a deadly projectile. There is
currently no safe way to secure both mom and baby to a stretcher, and even
if there were it would negate the skin to skin contact. As for in a Fixed
wing, we all know what happens to an unsecured infant in an airplane. And
there would be no way with the noise of a helicopter.
If you have any question, please, check any of the data done by Dr.
Nadine Levick. Perhaps inhouse transport would be more appropriate.
UserName: Mary Jane Cosden RNC
Institution: Sarasota Memorial Hospital
telephone: 941-917-1043
email: mary-jane-cosden@smh.com
You may add your own comments to the discussion of this topic by selecting : Submit Comments.