Specialty Hub
Transport Respiratory Care
Moving a critically ill patient is a procedure, not an errand. This hub covers the mini-ICU you take with you — oxygen logistics, transport ventilators, airway security, altitude physiology, and the monitoring that keeps a patient stable from ground to air.
Guides
In-depth teaching for moving the critically ill patient — by ground and by air.
Intrahospital Transport of the Ventilated Patient
How respiratory therapists safely move a mechanically ventilated patient within the hospital — team, equipment, monitoring, and the adverse events to prevent in transit.
Interfacility Transport: Choosing Ground vs Air
How transport teams choose between ground ambulance, rotor-wing, and fixed-wing for interfacility transfer — distance, time, weather, acuity, and the respiratory trade-offs of each mode.
Transport Ventilator Management
How transport ventilators differ from ICU ventilators, how to maintain settings continuity in transit, and why drive-gas type drives your oxygen math.
Altitude Physiology & Gas Laws in Transport
The gas laws behind altitude physiology — Boyle and Dalton — and what they mean for trapped gas, oxygenation, and pre-flight preparation during air transport.
Oxygen Supply Management During Transport
Sizing and managing the oxygen supply for transport — cylinder factors, the duration formula, safe residual pressure, drive-gas consumption, and reserve.
Physiologic Stresses of Transport
The physiologic stressors of transport — hypoxia, barometric change, thermal, humidity, noise, vibration, acceleration, and fatigue — and how respiratory therapists mitigate each.
Neonatal & Pediatric Transport
Specialized neonatal and pediatric transport — the transport incubator, thermoregulation as a respiratory priority, airway security, and oxygen targeting in the preterm infant.
Airway Management During Transport
Securing and confirming the airway for transport — when to intubate before departure, continuous capnography, the DOPE check, and cuff management at altitude.
Pre-Transport Assessment & Preparation
A systematic pre-transport workup — risk-benefit and communication, the ABC-plus-equipment package, stabilizing before departure, and the checklist that prevents adverse events.
Monitoring During Transport
Monitoring the patient in motion — the minimum standard, why capnography leads in transport, and how vibration, noise, and motion degrade what you can trust.
Interactive Practice
Practice Tools
Size the oxygen supply for the full round trip — pressure, cylinder factor, flow, and safe residual — before you leave the unit.
Clinical References
Cylinder math, gas laws, checklists, and monitoring targets for the road and the air.
Transport Oxygen Cylinder Duration Reference
Cylinder factors, the duration formula, safe residual pressure, and worked E-cylinder duration tables for planning transport oxygen supply.
Gas Laws for Patient Transport
A quick reference to the gas laws that govern patient transport — Boyle, Charles, Gay-Lussac, Dalton, Henry, and Graham — each with its statement and transport implication.
Pre-Transport Checklist
A systematic pre-transport checklist for the critically ill patient — airway, breathing, circulation, drugs, equipment, and team — to package and stabilize before departure.
Transport Monitoring Parameters
The minimum monitoring standard for transport and the stability targets to optimize before departure, including the ETCO₂-to-PaCO₂ relationship.
Quick Charts
Side-by-side comparisons for fast mode, equipment, and altitude decisions.
Ground vs Rotor-Wing vs Fixed-Wing Transport
A side-by-side comparison of ground ambulance, rotor-wing, and fixed-wing transport — distance, speed, weather sensitivity, cabin space, altitude, best use, and limitations.
Transport Ventilator vs ICU Ventilator
A feature-by-feature comparison of transport ventilators and ICU ventilators — power, drive gas, size, modes, humidification, monitoring, and oxygen consumption.
Transport Stressors: Effects & Mitigation
A table of the physiologic stressors of transport and flight — hypoxia, barometric change, thermal, humidity, noise, vibration, G-forces, and fatigue — each with mechanism, effect, and mitigation.
Altitude Effects on Gas Volume & Oxygenation
A table of altitude versus barometric pressure, inspired oxygen partial pressure, and trapped-gas expansion, with the closed gas spaces affected and the altitude FiO₂ correction.
Suggested Learning Path
Build transport competency in this order.
Related Specialties
Transport respiratory care draws directly on these areas.