Interhospital transport of critically ill patients: experiences and challenges, a qualitative study

Background No consensus based national standard for interhospital transports of critically ill patients exists in Norway. The local hospitals are responsible for funding, organizing and performing these transports, resulting in potentially different level of care for the critically ill patients depending on local hospital resources and not the level of severity in the patient’s condition. The aim of this study was to examine how these transports are executed and to discover challenges during transports and potentials of improvement.