Mobile critical care unit safeguards lives during transfers.

Providing access to high-quality critical care services for patients in small or remote hospitals is an important problem faced by many hospitals in this country. In an effort to meet the needs of critically ill patients who might be saved if they could be safely transported from their community hospitals to a large medical center with more specialized care capabilities, the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, Madison, designed a Mobile Critical Care Unit. The details of the unit's construction and of the program's operation are presented herein.