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

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 Transport Is Needed

We believe that specialized pediatric transportation can make a tremendous difference in health outcomes of our patients.

When a newborn, child or teen has a serious illness or injury that requires travel to a Norton Children’s medical facility, the “Just for Kids” Transport Team provides care using leading-edge equipment that is customizable for any patient up to age 21. Pediatric and newborn critical care transport team members collaborate with physicians and medical staff to ensure a safe arrival at the designated Norton Children’s medical facility.

Before Transport

Referring facilities should provide the following information when scheduling a transport:

• Name and location of the hospital requesting transport
• Provider’s name and callback number
• Name, age, weight and date of birth of the patient
• Chief complaint, diagnosis and present condition
• Medical history and allergies
• Vital signs and assessment of the child
• Treatments/medications that have been initiated
• Use of any medical devices, such as artificial airway or vascular access

Dispatch Process

1. Referring providers will be connected immediately to a Norton Children’s fellow or attending neonatologist, pediatric critical care and pediatric emergency medicine physicians who provide real-time medical control for the transport team.
2. Upon acceptance of the patient, a hospital bed is secured and the transport team is dispatched.
3. Appropriate mode of transportation for the patient is determined: ground ambulance, helicopter or airplane.
4. The requesting facility is notified of the mode of transportation and given an estimated time of arrival once the team is en route.

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

Norton Children’s Difference

The “Just for Kids” Transport Team consists of registered nurses, respiratory therapists and emergency medical technicians who are dedicated to working with ill and injured newborn and pediatric patients. They are equipped to provide specialized care during transport between hospitals.

The transport team has specially configured mobile intensive care units and aircraft that are designed for acute health care needs. They transport patients 24 hours a day from our referral center partners in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. They are able to travel anywhere in the continental United States in the event that a child requires quality care from Norton Children’s Hospital.

More than 50% of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Norton Children’s Hospital arrive via the “Just for Kids” Transport Team. More premature babies are surviving at smaller birth weights, and other hospitals in the region may choose the care of Norton Children’s neonatal specialists. Many older children also rely on the transport team to bring them to Norton Children’s Hospital for care from pediatric intensivists, surgeons, hospitalists and subspecialists.

Norton Children’s Hospital is a 300-bed freestanding 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
• The Louisville area’s first heart center serving children and adults with congenital heart conditions
• Epilepsy center certified by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers
• The Louisville area’s first pediatric stroke readiness team
• ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) Center of Excellence designation by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
• Wendy Novak Diabetes Center
• Named an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America