Intra-hospital transport of critically ill adult patients: complications related to staff, equipment and physiological factors

OBJECTIVE: To identify in the literature the complications related to physiological changes of the patient, the multidisciplinary team and the use of equipment during the intrahospital transport of critically ill patients. METHODS: Integrative review of literature, through a search in the databases of PubMED, MEDLINE, and LILACS. RESULTS: We encountered 20 articles, all written in the English language. Studies have shown that changes in arterial pressure and heart rate are most common during transport. Of the adverse events related to problems with the team, the lack of knowledge of the professional and failure of communication stood out, apart from those derived from equipment used. CONCLUSION: Transporting the critically ill patient safely requires improving communication between teams, standardizing the actions and equipment used by means of protocols, and identifying opportunities to obtain excellence in service during transport.

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