System debuts two new ambulances specially designed for children
Life EMS Ambulance, celebrating its 45th anniversary of providing West Michigan with affordable, high quality, pre-hospital care and emergency medical training, recently announced an expanded partnership with Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (HDVCH) of Corewell Health including supporting the safe transport of pediatric patients in the Critical Care Transport environment. The pediatric capability builds on a decades long partnership for the provision of safe, high quality, leading edge Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) transport services throughout West Michigan and beyond.
Serving throughout Michigan, this pediatric critical care transport team includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, respiratory therapists and a medical director as well as paramedics.
Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this new program essentially offers a pediatric ICU on wheels with highly-trained clinicians who can provide rapid assessment and life-saving interventions, while safely transporting patients 0 to 18 years from referring hospitals to specialists at HDVCH. The team will be able to provide advanced airway support, critical access to administer medications and other emergency procedures for infants and children.
Two new state-of-the-art ambulances were purchased and designed to meet the unique needs of neonatal and pediatric patients. One ambulance will be dedicated to the new pediatric critical care transport team, the other to the longstanding neonatal transport team, which exclusively serves newborns needing intensive care.
“We are thankful to HDVCH for entrusting us with helping in the care and transport of these patients and look forward to working with their new Pediatric Critical Care transport team,” explained Mark Meijer, founder and president of Life EMS Ambulance. “A big thank-you as well to AEV ambulance builders for working with us to custom design and build the two new ambulances to fit the specific needs of the pediatric and neonatal transport missions.”
The ambulances will be staffed in partnership with Life EMS Ambulance. Dedicated critical care paramedics will be working alongside Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital providers.
The purchase of the vehicles was made possible in part by donations to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation.