27.2 Sick child in a rural hospital
Challenges in the rural setting
Caring for the critically ill child
Potential problems to the stabilisation the child
Conversely, from the perspective of the receiving tertiary unit, it is important to offer ongoing advice and support, and to help plan and facilitate the transfer by liaising supportively with the transferring team (Fig. 27.2.1).
What can be done to assist care in remote environments?
Transport
In some cases, even the above consultation system will not enable the child to be managed at the rural hospital, and specialist care at a paediatric hospital will be needed. A centrally located paediatric triage and retrieval service, staffed by nurses and doctors with training and experience in triage and paediatric retrieval (see Chapter 27.1) can transfer severely ill and unstable patients to an urban tertiary hospital.
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