Adverse Events during Intra-Hospital Transport: Impact of Trained Team
Keywords:
transport, intra-hospital transfer, adverse events, trained team, Equipment failure, Team failureAbstract
Caring for critically ill patients during intra-hospital transport is a high-risk task, and evidence regarding the effectiveness of specialized transport teams in this setting remains limited. We conducted a ambispective study in a multidisciplinary teaching hospital including
all consecutive adult ICU patients transported for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. A dedicated transport team comprising twenty nurses and six medical students were trained, and patients were accompanied by trained personnel. The patients were then divided into two groups for analysis, based on the pre and post training period to compare the incidence, type, and pattern of adverse events during transport. A total of 573 transports were analyzed, with 178 adverse events (31%) recorded, including physiological adverse events (39.8%), team failure (27.5%), equipment failure (21.5%), and delays (11.2%). There was a statistically significant difference in overall adverse events between the groups (p=0.003), particularly in events related to team failure (p=0.006) and equipment failure (p=0.001). These findings suggest that the use of a trained, specialized transport team, rather than a hybrid team drawn from sending units, can significantly reduce adverse events related to team and equipment failure during intra-hospital transport of critically ill patients, underscoring the importance of focused education and training to improve patient safety and team performance.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Paul G, Lal P, Singh B, Singh S, Taneja S, Thoman M
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