St. Louis Children’s Critical Care Transport Team Moves in at AMH

ALTON, IL -- Alton Memorial Hospital and St. Louis Children’s have announced a new partnership in the care of critically ill infants and children.

AMH is serving as home base for a St. Louis Children’s critical care transport team. A specially-equipped mobile intensive care unit (MICU) and KidsFlight helicopter, along with a pediatric-certified paramedic and two registered pediatric nurses, are ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week to transport the most critical children and infants to specialized care at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

 “When a child has a life-threatening condition or injury, timing is a critical factor in their recovery -- and often their survival,” says Joan Magruder, president of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “The placement of a Children’s transport team with our partners in Alton gives children in southern Illinois a faster, more direct route to highly specialized and life-saving treatment.”

“Having the St. Louis Children’s transport team housed at Alton Memorial Hospital is a tremendous advantage for young patients in our area and will give peace of mind to parents,” says Dave Braasch, president of AMH.  “We are excited about this partnership.” 

Because the critical transport team is housed at AMH, they are available to the hospital’s emergency and OB departments when not on a transport call.

The entire St. Louis Children’s critical care transport team conducts approximately 2,600 transports annually. Most transports involve newborn or critically ill babies who require specialized care in the St. Louis Children’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), or children who have suffered injury or trauma requiring care at the region’s only level one pediatric trauma center verified by the American College of Surgeons.

Success in overcoming a traumatic injury is often determined within the first hour after the injury. Quick arrival to a level one trauma center can set the course for that child’s recovery, or even survival. By stationing one team at Alton Memorial Hospital, the overall Children’s transport team is positioned to respond to any call within 10 minutes.

This new service brings definitive care to critically ill children and newborns in the Alton area, as well as education and outreach opportunities. Medical dispatch, control and oversight will remain at St. Louis Children’s. AMH is the third permanent location for St. Louis Children’s critical care transport team. Additional teams are housed at its main campus in St. Louis and at Parkland Health Center in Farmington, Mo.

Alton Memorial Hospital staff and members of the critical care transport team gather in front of an AMH ambulance and the St. Louis Children’s mobile intensive care unit. Left to right are AMH squad leader Don Millitello, EMT Valerie Kugler, paramedic Doug Dankenbring, paramedic Kelly McCreary, EMS manager Jason Bowman, and transport team members Lance Peeples (EMT-P), Trisha Taetz, RN; and Bert Hicks, RN.

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