Critical Care Transport
Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services
Children's Mercy Critical Care Transport (CMCCT) is the only 24-hour a day, seven day a week transport program in the region dedicated exclusively to neonates, children and adolescents. The team also provides specialty transport for expectant mothers with the Maternal Fetal Transport program, as well as for pediatric and neonatal patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy.
Ready to dispatch
Up to 10 teams a day are dispatched immediately from bases at Children's Mercy in Kansas City, Mo. and Children's Mercy Kansas in Overland Park, Kan. All transport teams respond by dedicated ground ambulance, rotor wing, turbo prop and jet airplanes. The transport program has been designed to bridge the gap between Children's Mercy and other medical facilities.
Directed by Children's Mercy neonatologists, pediatric intensivists and maternal fetal medicine physicians, the teams consist of advanced life support-trained critical care nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. The maternal fetal transport teams include the addition of a nurse with extensive high-risk obstetrical experience. ECMO transport teams include the addition of a perfusionist and pediatric intensivist or neonatologist.
An annual volume of nearly 5,800 neonatal, pediatric and maternal fetal transports place CMCCT amongst the busiest specialty teams in the country. CMCCT crews are prepared, skilled and confident in their ability to care for expectant mothers and critically ill children throughout the transport process.
Accredited
Children's Mercy Critical Care Transport's commitment to excellence in specialty transport care has earned the Neonatal/ Pediatric Transport Award of Excellence, Fixed Wing Award of Excellence, Critical Care Ground Award of Excellence, and Transport Program of the Year, all awarded by the Association of Air Medical Services. The transport program is accredited in all three modes of transport through the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS).
Accreditation public notice
Transport services
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Ground ambulances are operated by Children's Mercy Kansas City.
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Fixed-wing aircrafts are operated by PHI Health, a FAA Part 135 certificate holder.
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Rotor-wing aircraft is operated by PHI Health, a FAA Part 135 certificate holder, and in affiliation with LifeFlight Eagle.
Safety is our top priority
Safety awareness is integrated into all aspects of the transport program. Each day people entrust the transport teams with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. We believe we must always be worthy of that trust.
Learn about the safety precautions we utilize with every service.
Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services
Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services
In accordance with providing the very best care possible for every child, Children's Mercy Kansas City believes that specialized care during transport can make a tremendous difference.
Children's Mercy Critical Care Transport provides outreach education for community clinic and hospital nurses, EMS and fire personnel in conjunction with our Trauma Services and Neonatal Outreach programs.
Learn the transport team's coverage area and information on Children's Mercy heliports.
View the different modes of transportation Children's Mercy offers from ground to air.
Critical Care Transport: Owen's story
As a 2-year-old, Owen Sheeley had an unexplained seizure. Testing showed nothing remarkable but after a few seizure-free months, Owen had another major seizure. He was taken to the nearest hospital where Children’s Mercy Critical Care Transport was contacted. Upon arrival, the team prepared Owen for a flight to Kansas City.
Critical Care Transport: Willow's story
A low heart rate led to Willow Noud being delivered by C-section at a local hospital. Trouble breathing and undetectable blood sugars after birth initiated a call to the Children’s Mercy Critical Care Transport team to take Willow to the Level IV nursery at Children’s Mercy Kansas City.
Critical Care Transport: Xavier 's story
What started as a normal school day for Xavier Scruggs, 17, quickly changed when he passed out at soccer practice. Revived by CPR, Xavier was taken to a local hospital. Unable to explain what had happened, the Children’s Mercy Critical Care Transport team was called to take Xavier to the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Critical Care Transport Team
Critical Care Transport Team
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Specially trained registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and paramedics or emergency medical technicians make up the crew for each neonatal/pediatric critical care transport team.
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Teams are trained and confident in advanced therapies during transport such as high-frequency ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, neonatal whole-body cooling, surfactant administration, helium/oxygen therapy and effective pain management for patients of all ages.
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Nurses and respiratory therapists are skilled at performing advanced skills such as intubation, laryngeal mask airway, long nasal CPAP, needle cricothyrotomy, chest decompression, umbilical line placement, intraosseous placement, external jugular line placement and VP shunt management.
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Nurses and respiratory therapists have a minimum of three years of experience in pediatric/neonatal critical care or high risk obstetrics before joining our team and receive extensive training in disease and injury pathophysiology as well as pharmacology during our extensive orientation
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Paramedics and emergency medical technicians receive a minimum of 400 hours of training in pediatric specialty care and the transport process.
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Our 24/7 dispatch center features certified flight communication specialists (minimum emergency medical technicians or paramedics) to dispatch the appropriate mode of transport within minutes of the request and are responsible for ground and flight following.
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Our 24/7 Transfer Center features certified flight communication specialists to dispatch the appropriate mode of transport within minutes of the request and are responsible for ground and flight following.
Children's Mercy
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Children's Mercy Adele Hall campus, a 314 bed pediatric hospital with obstetric beds in the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center located in Kansas City, Mo.
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Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas, a 53 bed pediatric hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Department in Overland Park, Kan.
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The Kansas City, MO campus has the region's only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center.
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Immediate access to more than 700 pediatric specialists covering more than 40 areas of specialty.
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The only acute-care hospital and trauma center in the area exclusively for children.
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Named one of the top children's hospitals in America by Child Magazine.
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Ranked once again as one of America’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News and World Report.
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87 bed Intensive Care Nursery with 24-hour in-house coverage by board certified neonatologists.
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41 bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with 24-hour in-house coverage by board-certified pediatric intensivists.
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The Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center.
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Received its fifth Magnet Designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for superior nursing quality in 2020.