Pharmacy support of a provincial neonatal transport team.

In 1981, the Manitoba Neonatal Transport Program was implemented to provide for the safe transport of sick newborns and infants from rural and community hospitals to the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) located in two tertiary care hospitals, the Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface General Hospital of Winnipeg. Based in the NICU of the Health Sciences Centre, the Neonatal Transport Team services the entire province of Manitoba as well as patients referred from out of province facilities including the Northwest Territories. Due to the large geographical area serviced and the need to transport infants from remote locales, the Neonatal Transport Team must carry all the items necessary to provide full intensive care support for the infant. 1,2 This includes all of the equipment (e.g., self-powered incubator, monitors, infusion pumps, ventilator), disposables (e.g., catheters, gauze, sutures), intravenous fluids, oxygen and medications which may be required. Ambulance and aircraft size and operational concerns impose space and weight limitations for the Neonatal Transport Team.3 This report will describe the support provided by the Health Sciences Centre Department of Pharmaceutical Services to the Manitoba Neonatal Transport Program. In particular, the development of an exchangeable drug box to improve the storage and distribution of medications will be outlined. The workload involved in maintaining this system and the cost savings achieved through improved inventory control will be shown. In addition, the other services provided to the Neonatal Transport Team such as staff education and drug information will be described in order to provide a complete picture of the role of the Department of Pharmaceutical Services.