Pregnant women requiring specialized transport have immediate access to the care they need. The new Maternal Fetal Transport service, a joint effort between Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, offers a level of care unavailable through other regional transport programs.
The comprehensive service is designed to provide patients with safe, specialized maternal-fetal transport and to offer referring providers and hospitals easy activation through the service’s call center.
When a hospital or provider calls the Maternal Fetal Transport Call Center, a member of the referral staff contacts a Maternal Fetal Transport OB medical control specialist, who will activate the transport team upon acceptance of the patient. The referral team selects the appropriate mode of transportation based on patient condition, weather and the patient’s location; the referral staff member managing the recorded call facilitates transfer to the hospital and admission of the patient.
Each dispatched transport team includes a Barnes-Jewish Hospital high-risk obstetrical nurse, a St. Louis Children’s Hospital neonate-trained nurse in the event of delivery and a Children’s Hospital paramedic. Transport is provided by ground or air via one of three mobile intensive care units, the KidsFlight 1 and 2 helicopters and KidsFlight 3, a fixed-wing aircraft dedicated to transporting maternal-fetal patients and critically ill newborns and children.
For more information, visit bjhne.ws/ep.
In addition to providing specialized transport, the new service offers:
- Transport response 24 hours a day, seven days a week
- Immediate ground or air service within 15 minutes of a referring call
- Maintained communication with the referring provider and hospital
- Direct access to Washington University maternal-fetal and pediatric specialists
To arrange transport for a patient, or to learn more about the Maternal Fetal Transport service, call 800-678-HELP (4357).
