In the past, critically ill or injured patients had few options for continuity of care while enroute from a critical care setting to a tertiary care facility. Paramedics transported these patients, and also provided critical care during transfer with little or no training in this specialized area. In fact, these paramedics often had to administer advanced pharmacological agents, operate high-tech equipment, and perform procedures and interventions necessary to maintain or improve overall patient outcome.

Today, the challenges inherent in ground critical care transport (CCT) are being addressed and more options have become available. Without a doubt, any patient who is critically ill or injured requires rapid transport to a tertiary care facility with advanced diagnostics and specialty physicians who are capable of performing invasive and surgical procedures necessary to save lives and improve outcome.

Aeromedical transport is the best mode of CCT for those who meet the requirements, but when...

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