Use of a Mobile Remote Device to Optimize Pediatric Inter-facility Transportation: A Feasibility Study

September 26, 2016 updated by: Tanya Holt, University of Saskatchewan

Remote Technology for Paediatric Patient Assessment, Stabilization and Triaging Prior to Paediatric Inter-facility Transportation: A Feasibility Study

This study compares the utilization of remote technology versus not using remote technology when triaging and managing pediatric patients in remote settings prior to pediatric specialized inter-facility transportation.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Paediatric Specialized Inter-facility transport utilizes specialized teams usually made up of a respiratory therapist, paediatric critical care nurse, and paediatric intensivist as medical control. When a Nurse Practitioner or General Practitioner from a remote site has a paediatric acute care referral and wants to arrange transportation there is an initial call at which point there are two priorities: first is obtain a patient history and then provide advice to the remote caregiver to initiate specific therapies; second is to mobilize the specialized team to the patient. The period of time between giving initial advice while dispatching the team and the time when the team arrives, can often be a vulnerable period for the remote caregiver as well as the patient. The ability to directly visualize and assess the patient during this time, as well as assist the specialized team once they arrive may provide improvement in safety and care of the patient. It may also improve triaging and may make the stabilization and departure time more efficient.

Remote technology will be used for an initial patient assessment after being contacted by phone from the peripheral centre to transfer an acutely ill paediatric patient as assessed by the referral centre care provider. After assessment the patient will be triaged to either remain in the local community, transferred to a regional hospital that provides paediatric acute care (Prince Albert), or be transported to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon for tertiary care. Data to be collected includes:

  • Duration of time from the beginning of the initial phone call to the first therapeutic intervention
  • Time to stabilization
  • Time to decision for disposition
  • The duration of contact with the health care provider and the patient
  • Number of scheduled follow-up contacts for a specific patient within 24 hours
  • Number of times the referring centre re-consults
  • Of the patients who triaged to stay in the local community how many were transported to the tertiary care centre within 24hrs
  • How many patients who arrived at the tertiary care centre were discharged within 24hrs
  • How many patients on arrival were deemed to be unnecessary

The nurses and physicians who are communicating with the Intensivist about the case will complete a post-encounter survey to evaluate their experience.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

69

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Saskatchewan
      • Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, Canada, S0P 0E0
        • Pelican Narrows Clinic (Angelique Canada Health Centre)
      • Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, S4P 0W5
        • Regina General Hospital
      • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N0W8
        • Royal University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 17 years (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Remote Technology Group Inclusion:

  • Patients ≤ 17 years from peripheral centre (Pelican Narrows Clinic and Regina General Hospital).
  • Acutely ill.
  • Being considered for medical transport.

Control Group Inclusion:

  • Patients ≤ 17 years from peripheral centre (Stony Rapids, Wollaston Lake and Sandy Bay).
  • Chosen from a pre-existing Saskatchewan paediatric transport database.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients older than age 17.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
  • Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Remote technology
Remote technology will be used for an initial patient assessment after being contacted by phone from the peripheral center to transfer an acutely ill pediatric patient as assessed by the referral centre care provider.
Other: Remote technology
Utilization of remote technology versus not using remote technology when triaging and managing pediatric patients in remote settings prior to pediatric specialized inter-facility transportation.
No Intervention: Control
A Nurse Practitioner or General Practitioner from a remote site has a pediatric acute care referral and arranges a transportation. There is an initial call to obtain a patient history, to provide advice to the remote caregiver to initiate specific therapies and to mobilize the specialized team to the patient.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Transport number in the cases (with the robot) versus the controls (without the robot)
Time Frame: One year
One year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Tertiary care hospital length of stay in the cases versus the controls
Time Frame: One year
One year
The number of patients transported to the regional hospitals in the cases (with the robot) versus the controls (without the robot)
Time Frame: One year
One year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Saskatchewan

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tanya Holt, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 21, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

September 27, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 27, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2016

Last Verified

September 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PITROBOT-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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