Newborn Emergency Transport Service
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NETS is an
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for newborn emergency transport service ''or'' system. Such services provide critical care transport for newborn babies requiring care not available in the hospital of birth. Some provide other services; such as outreach education, return transport and coordination of high-risk obstetric transfer. Others provide transport services in older age-groups (infants and children).


Locations

NETS (Virginia)
is a service of the University of Virginia Health System in
Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...
VA (USA). Ground and air vehicles are used to transport sick babies from 30 surrounding hospitals. For emergency transport, call (866) 638 7882 or nICU on (434) 924 2335.
NETS (Victoria)
is the emergency transport service for newborn babies in the state of Victoria, parts of southern NSW and northern Tasmania. The base of operations and clinical coordination centre is a combined one incorporating PETS (Paediatric Emergency Transport Service) and PERS (Perinatal Emergency Referral Service) under a new name 'PIPER'. It is located at the Royal Children's Hospital in Parkville. NETS Victoria was previously located at the
Royal Women's Hospital The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care, women's cancers and women's health. It also ...
. Outreach education services are also provided throughout the state of Victoria. All newborn patients needing intensive care in Victoria are transported to one of 4 neonatal ICUs by NETS (Victoria). Hotline 1300 137 650.
NETS (NSW)
is the emergency transport service for babies (and children) for the state of
NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. Starting originally as a service for newborns in 1979, the service expanded to include infants and children in 1995 and now treats and transports older children up to the age of 16 years. The service's clinical coordination centre takes calls from physicians in any of over 240 hospitals and a number of private surgical facilities. Clinical advice is provided and critical care transport teams are launched, as required, by road or air. Newly born patients are moved to one of 10 neonatal ICUs in
NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
and the ACT. Infants and children are transported to one of 3 pædiatric ICUs. Calls are also received seeking assistance with emergency transfer of high risk obstetric patients. Clinical conference call techniques are used to make decisions about these obstetric transfers. Medical retrieval teams and a fleet of purpose-built ambulances are housed within the Base to provide rapid response to clinical emergencies. Hotline 1300 36 2500. In addition, satellite services operate in the ACT and the
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
of NSW for the transport of newborn infants by road. NETS operates a fleet of 14 ambulances from these three bases. NETS teams are based in a number of locations in Italy, including Genoa, Rome and plus a further 41 on call services. QNETS is a service established in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 2007 which coordinates hospital-based transport services for newborns, children and maternity cases between hospitals in the southern part of that state. WA NETS operates in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Previously known as WANTS (Western Australia Newborn Transport Service), the newly named (2008) Service continues emergency transport of newborns in WA under the more generic term 'NETS'


History


NETS (Virginia)
began in 1975.
NETS (Victoria)
was established in 1976 after government reports showed an alarming number of deaths occurring during or after 'mercy dash' transfers of newborn infants by ambulance. The service covered the state of Victoria in southern Australia and pioneered the provision of newborn transport in Australia. In 2011, governance of NETS was transferred to the
Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia. As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...
where it was amalgamated with the perinatal and paediatric emergency retrieval programs to for
PIPER

NETS (NSW)
evolved in the mid 1970s at two hospitals in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and other hospitals progressively developed the capacity for
newborn transport Newborn transport is used to move premature and other sick infants from one hospital to another, such as a medical facility that has a neonatal intensive care unit and other services. Neonatal transport services such as NETS use mobile intensiv ...
in subsequent years. In 1995 separate services based at 5 hospitals were amalgamated to create a single statewide service o
NSW Health
As well as newborns, this service also transports infants and children. Since that time, all calls for emergency transport of newborn infants and children throughout NSW (from preterm infants to adolescents) are coordinated b
NETS
PNETS covers the Australian state of Tasmania from a base at the Royal Hobart Hospital in Hobart. It combines pædiatric transport with neonatal transport.


Procedure

NETS use conference call techniques to connect calling doctors with one or more specialists relevant to the patient's condition. In this way, all aspects of the clinical problem are canvassed in one phone call without impairing the emergency response of the transport team.


Vehicles

NETS use road ambulances specially fitted out for the task of loading and moving the heavy equipment needed for mobile intensive care. They feature easy loading systems and supplies of medical air as well as oxygen. An image of these ambulances and teams was deleted by someone who thought it was a copyrighted image but this wasn't correct and will be replaced soon. Image:NETS Hangar.jpg, NETS
Heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...
in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
Helicopter transport is provided by CareFlight to NETS NSW and Victorian Air Ambulance to NETS Victoria. Fixed wing aircraft operated by the RFDS transport NETS teams and equipment over longer distances. International missions use chartered jets, Air Force transport aircraft or commercial airliners.


References

*Roy, RN 1977.''NETS: a new system for neonatal transport'' Med. J Aust. 1977 Dec 24-31:2(26-27):855-8 *Kitchen, WH (1983).''Provision of perinatal services and survival of extremely low birthweight infants in Victoria''. Med. J Aust. 1983 Oct 1;2(7):314-8 *Rashid, Asrar (1999).''A Regionalised Transport Service, the way ahead?'' Arch Dis Child 1999;80:488-492 (May) *Abdel-Latif, M. (2006).''Does rural or urban residence make a difference to neonatal outcome in premature birth? A regional study in Australia'' Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2006; 91: F251-F256 *Broughton, SJ (2004).''An illness severity score and neonatal mortality in retrieved neonates.'' European Journal of Pediatrics - Springer ISSN 0340-6199 (Print) 1432-1076 (Online) Volume 163, Number 7 / July, 2004 *Kei Lui. (2006).''Improved Outcomes of Extremely Premature Outborn Infants: Effects of Strategic Changes in Perinatal and Retrieval Services'' Pediatrics 118:5 2076-2083 {{authority control Ambulance services in Australia Pediatric organizations