Sutter Women's and Children's Transport Services
Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento

For high risk pregnancy, premature infants, and newborns and children facing serious illness, effective transport to Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento is vital.

A physician is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to a call for the need to transfer or for emergency consultation. 

Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento, has Level III (highest level of care) units in High Risk Maternity, Neonatal Intensive Care, and Pediatric Intensive Care.

For more information or to arrange for transport or transfer services call:
Maternal Fetal Medicine (High Risk Maternity) – (916) 733-7111
NICU - (916) 733-1060 or (888) 510-1002
PICU – (916) 733-1065

Maternal Fetal Medicine – (916) 733-7111
24-hour coordination of transport services is available to bring expectant mothers to Sutter Memorial Hospital. The call will connect the referring physician directly to a board certified Sutter Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician. Mothers and infants transported receive the area's highest level of specialized delivery and intensive care services.

NICU - (916) 733-1060 or (888) 510-1002
The Sutter NICU Transport Team consists of neonatal nurses and respiratory therapists specially trained in advanced airway management and stabilization of critically ill and premature neonates. The Team is also trained as Therapeutic Hypothermia specialists and are able to initiate passive cooling as soon as they arrive as the referring center. The NICU Transport Team is under constant direction from board-certified neonatologists. Special transport incubators are equipped with the latest technology including High Frequency and Conventional Ventilators and Nitric Oxide transport. Fixed wing or ambulance carriers enable the NICU Transport Team to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The NICU Transport Team provides the quickest, safest route from community hospitals throughout northern California to the Sutter Children’s Center’s Level III NICU. Sutter’s Children’s Center NICU Transport Team performs over 250 transports annually.

PICU – (916) 733-1065
Referring physicians work directly with the Sutter Pediatric Intensivist to arrange transport to the high level care at the Sutter PICU. The Pediatric Intensivists are available 24 hours a day to assist in coordinating transport services. Once the decision is made to transport, the mode of transport is determined by the physicians and the available options at the child’s location which may include ground ambulance, fixed wing or helicopter transport. The Pediatric Intensivist is available for consult with the transport team if needed during the transport. The Children’s Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, accepts more than 650 PICU transports annually.

Through a partnership with nonprofit CALSTAR (California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue), Sutter serves pregnant mothers, infants and children who have experienced life-threatening illness for air transport services. All Cal Star flight crewmembers assigned to a flight by Cal Star are highly qualified, and have been trained under an approved training program that includes clinical rotations in the Children’s Center Intensive Care Units.

Tertiary Services Offered

Attendance at Deliveries
In an effort to improve perinatal outcomes, our NICU Transport Team can attend deliveries. Should an obstetrical patient present or be too far advanced in labor for transport, our NICU Transport Team will arrive to be present for the delivery and stabilize the infant as needed before transporting the infant. Attendance at deliveries will be determined on a case by case basis after consultation with the neonatologist on call.

Nitric Oxide Program
Our NICU is one of only 5 NICUs in the nation to offer nitric oxide during tranpsort. Inhaled nitric oxide can help some babies suffering respiratory failure who have not responded to the usual methods of support.

Trials have shown that inhaled nitric oxide can increase the levels of oxygen in babies' blood and reduce the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a highly technical and invasive therapy.

Therapeutic Hypothermia Program
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento has implemented the Therapeutic Hypothermia Program to treat infants with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). Research has shown that cooling the body reduces the chance of brain damage caused by a loss of oxygen or blood flow. The Therapeutic Hypothermia Program involves cooling a baby’s body to 92.3 degrees for 72 hours and then gradually warming the baby to normal body temperature (which is 98.6 degrees). Time is very important in providing this therapy and the cooling has to begin within the first 6 hours of the infant’s life. Our 30 minute transport team response time – we are on the road or in the air within 30 minutes of the initial call – will help to assure that the 6 hour timeline is met.

Bubble CPAP
Bubble CPAP is a simple, safe and cost effective method of delivering respiratory support to premature babies. The use of Bubble CPAP can limit the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and helps to support infants without the complications associated with endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation.

ECMO
Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento is one of the few hospitals in the Sacramento area equipped with the sophisticated equipment to provide ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. ECMO takes over the body’s function by pumping blood from the heart, oxygenating it in an artificial lung machine and returning the oxygenated blood to the baby’s body. Treatment is provided by a team of highly trained neonatal intensive care physicians, specially trained intensive care nurses and technicians who monitor the child around the clock.

Education and Outreach
Through our Outreach Educational Program we are building a network of exceptional newborn care throughout Northern California.  If any educational needs arise such as but not limited to NRP or S.T.A.B.L.E., please don’t hesitate to contact us at 916-733-1726.