UAB Synopsis, Vol. 27, No. 44, November 24, 2008
“I really had no idea how critical my condition was at the time. It was only when my children explained more details to me later that I began to appreciate the great lengths taken by the UAB flight team in getting me safely to Birmingham.” – Patient testimonial
That elderly cardiac patient’s first experience in an airplane was a trip to UAB in its 2000 Cessna Citation Bravo jet. For her it was unique. For the Critical Care Transport (CCT) service that operates the jet, it was routine.
This year CCT is 25 years old and was the first US medical transport service with a jet dedicated solely to hospital-to-hospital transfer. Its air and ground vehicles have traveled more than 27 million miles, helping more than 34,000 patients, with a record 1800 transported last year. Most patients come to UAB Hospital, but CCT also takes ICU patients back to their local hospitals and transports patients between other national and international facilities.
CCT 25-Year Statistics
| Number of patients |
34,094 |
| Miles traveled |
27,000,000 |
| Neonatal transports |
7192 |
| Intra-aortic balloon pump transfers |
470 |
| Ventilator transports |
10,424 |
In addition to the jet, CCT operates three specially designed ambulances. All vehicles are mobile ICUs, capable of maintaining critically ill patients who might require a ventilator or an intra-aortic balloon pump for transfer to a tertiary level hospital. “Unlike standard ambulance services, which usually provide only basic and advanced life care, CCT teams continue ICU treatment and can make therapeutic modifications, maintaining and often improving patients’ condition en route,” says CCT Manager Laura Lee Demmons, RN.
CCT has been part of Demmons’ life for 25 years. She joined as a transport nurse and has served as manager for 24 years. During her tenure, CCT has contributed to transport technology, professional standards, research, and medical literature.
The service pioneered liquid oxygen in civilian fixed-wing aircraft and also is responsible for a prototype ICU stretcher and other innovations.
Award of Excellence
Demmons won the 2006 Critical Care Ground Award of Excellence for her efforts to improve critical care transport ground safety, and she authored and published the first journal article related to ground safety in the professional journal of the transport community.
Demmons is proud that CCT is the most frequently cited program in the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) Best Practices publication, which includes nine documents from the UAB program.
CCT Leadership
Associate Vice President: Donald J. Lilly, MBA, FACHE
Medical Director: Kevin S. Barlotta, MD
Manager: Laura Lee Demmons, RN
Manager: Diane B. Kahler, RT |
CAMTS previously commended CCT for its patient care protocols. It was a plan that “embodies the fundamental knowledge needed for taking care of a patient in the transport environment,” she says.
Medical care is delivered by a staff of emergency medicine, internal medicine, and surgery physicians, who are guided by Medical Director Kevin S. Barlotta, MD. “Moving critical patients is a complex practice, and it is gratifying to be a part of a program that has been doing it so well for so long. It’s a valuable resource for Alabama citizens and for those who come from far away for the outstanding medical care at UAB. We’re looking forward to the next 25 years,” he says.
Demmons says CCT represents UAB to the world. “We take our expertise beyond UAB Health System walls into the community and, with the jet, around the world.”
The program was highly visible in recent years as it ferried patients out of disaster areas and delivered supplies to health care workers after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Gustav struck.
The CCT transport staff, which can include a nurse or neonatal nurse practitioner, a respiratory therapist, and, as indicated, a physician, personally deliver high-tech medicine to outlying communities.