A Critical Care Transport Nurse is a Registered Nurse specialized in care in the pre-hospital setting. These are mostly air-medical personnel or critical care transport providers with specialized training and experience in pre-hospital care. Such nurses are required by their employers to seek additional certifications beyond basic nursing licensure and are often required to have three years (minimum) of full-time experience in emergency and/or intensive care.

Requirements

Certifications requirements vary but often include

advanced cardiac life support Advanced cardiac life support, advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) refers to a set of clinical guidelines for the urgent and emergent treatment of life-threatening cardiovascular conditions that will cause or have caused cardiac arrest, ...

(ACLS),

basic life support Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians). It can be p ...

(BLS),

pediatric advanced life support Pediatric advanced life support (PALS) is a course offered by the American Heart Association (AHA) for health care providers who take care of children and infants in the emergency room, critical care and intensive care units in the hospital, and ou ...

(PALS),

neonatal resuscitation program The Neonatal Resuscitation Program is an educational program in neonatal resuscitation that was developed and is maintained by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This program focuses on basic resuscitation skills for newly born infants. With the ...

(NRP), trauma nursing core course (TNCC), and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), in addition to

Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians is an American professional association representing Emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Lobbying In March 2013, the association unsuccessfully lobbied for the Veteran Emer ...

(PHTLS). Standards also include being board certified in Emergency Nursing (CEN),

Critical Care Nursing Critical care nursing is the field of nursing with a focus on the utmost care of the critically ill or unstable patients following extensive injury, surgery or life threatening diseases. Critical care nurses can be found working in a wide variety o ...

(CCRN), and Ground Transport (CTRN) or Flight Nursing (CFRN) respectively. In some regions these nurses are authorized to operate base station phones for medical command. Some states allow them to operate entirely under standing orders while on a ground ambulance or air medical unit (i.e. offline medical control). Training also includes specific education relevant to the state and its protocols, and often requires the nurse to train with paramedics for a period of time as well as taking an additional exam administered by their medical director before being allowed to operate on a ground ambulance or air medical unit. Many of these nurses hold certifications as Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics, and in some states are required to, but it is not the standard of practice.

References

{{reflist Nursing specialties Emergency medical certifications Nursing credentials and certifications