The “Just for Kids” Transport Team began as a neonatal ambulance service in 1978. Over 40 years later, has grown into a  team transporting more than 2,000 newborns, children and adolescents (to age 21) annually.

The team has specially equipped mobile intensive care units and medically configured aircraft, designed for special health care needs. We can transport patients 24 hours a day from our referral center partners in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, as well as travel anywhere in the continental United States should a child require specialized care from Norton Children’s.

The safety of our patients and staff is our first priority. Each vehicle maintains up-to-date licensure and inspections as required by state and federal agencies that oversee emergency medical services.

Our transport vehicles were funded by generous donations from community members through the Norton Children’s Hospital Foundation. If you would like to support the team, consider donating at NortonChildrens.com/Donate.

When A Transport Is Needed

Norton Children’s believes that specialized pediatric care and monitoring during transport can make a tremendous difference in health outcomes.

When a newborn, child or adolescent has a serious illness or injury that requires travel to a Norton Children’s medical facility, the “Just for Kids” Transport Team administers care using state-of-the-art equipment customizable for any transport patient. Pediatric/neonatal critical care transport team members work with pediatricians, hospital doctors and medical staff to ensure a safe arrival at the designated Norton Children’s medical facility.

Before Transport:

When a transport is requested, the following information will be collected:

• Name and location of the hospital or clinic requesting transport
• Provider’s name and callback number
• Name, age, weight and date of birth
• Chief complaint/diagnosis and present condition
• Medical history and allergies
• Vital signs and assessment of the child
• Treatments/medications initiated, if any

Transport dispatch process

1. Norton Children’s specialists will be in touch with the transport team and the family as soon as possible.
2. Appropriate mode of transport for the patient is determined: ground ambulance, helicopter or airplane.
3. The transport team is dispatched.
4. The requesting facility is notified of the mode of transport and given an estimated time of arrival once the team is en route.
5. A hospital bed is secured for the patient.

During Transport:

Members of the transport team are able to care for conditions such as:

• Extreme prematurity
• Congenital and acquired heart disease
• Neonatal metabolic disorders
• Airway abnormalities
• Asthma or other illnesses requiring respiratory or ventilator support
• All forms of shock
• Seizures
• Accidental and abusive injuries
• Diabetes
• Poisonings and ingestions
• And more

Norton Children’s Difference

The  “Just for Kids” Transport Team members are trained professionals dedicated to working with ill and injured newborns, children, and adolescents.. They are equipped to provide specialized care during transport between hospitals.

The transport team is made up of intensive care registered nurses, respiratory therapists and emergency medical technicians.

More than 60% of babies in the neonatal acute care unit  at Norton Children’s Hospital arrive via the transport team. More premature babies are surviving at smaller birth weights, and other hospitals in the region may not be as equipped to care for the special needs of these tiny babies. Many older children rely on the transport team to bring them to Norton Children’s Hospital for specialized critical care.

Norton Children’s Hospital is a 300-bed free-standing pediatric hospital. The facility is the primary pediatric teaching site of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Children transported to Norton Children’s Hospital benefit from highly specialized services, including:

• Louisville’s only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center
• One of the largest Level IV neonatal intensive care units in the county
• Region’s first heart center serving children and adults with congenital heart conditions
• Epilepsy center certified by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers
• Designated ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) Center of Excellence by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
• Named an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America