Paediatric aeromedical retrievals in the 'Top End' of the Northern Territory.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to describe the remote paediatric aeromedical population of the 'Top End' of the Northern Territory. The secondary objective was to identify children requiring high-dependency care by the transport team.

DESIGN: Retrospective case review.

SETTING: Aeromedical service in the remote Northern Territory.

PARTICIPANTS: All patients under the age of 16 years transported over a one-year period between February 2012 and February 2013.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Age, gestation if newborn, diagnosis at referral, requirement for high-dependency care and transport team members.

RESULTS: Seven hundred eighty-nine children were transported with an average age of 4.4 years (range 0 days to 16 years). Nursing staff transferred 646 (82%). Respiratory problems (bronchiolitis and pneumonia) were the predominant illness type (31%). Other frequent diagnoses were trauma (11%), gastroenteritis (10%), cellulitis or abscess (9%) and the sequelae of streptococcal infection (8%). Thirty preterm infants including seven below 31 weeks gestation were transferred. Twenty-five children required high-dependency care, 15 of these on day 0 of life. Twenty-five required respiratory support, seven central venous access, four surfactant, two inotropes and one chest tubes.

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of paediatric aeromedical patients have an infective cause for their illness. Respiratory disease is the most common indication for aeromedical transport. The majority of patients are transferred by a flight nurse and do not require high-dependency care. The main risk factor identified for requiring high-dependency care during transport is respiratory distress in a newborn infant.