Background and aims Critically ill children in the UK are stabilised in the district general hospitals (DGH) and transferred to tertiary paediatric intensive care units (PICU). The North West and North Wales Paediatric transport Service (NWTS) is a specialist paediatric retrieval service, which transports sick children and also provides expert advice to DGH staff. However, in the DGHs, anaesthetic teams (AT) provide the initial resuscitation and undertake the time-critical transfers. Countess of Chester hospital (COCH) is one of the 29 DGHs in the north-west. The aim of this project was to review the role of AT in resuscitation, stabilisation and transfer of critically ill children from COCH to PICUs.

Methods Retrospective review of patient notes, NWTS- transport documentation and discharge summaries of the patients at tertiary PICUs over 2.5 years between November 2010 to August 2013.

Results Of the 43 transfers from COCH 11 transfers were undertaken by AT. Major proportion of interventions were performed by the AT and the NWTS stabilisation time at COCH was similar to that in the rest of the DGHs. (See Table and Figure).

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Abstract PO-0286 Figure 1

Conclusions Anaesthetic teams at DGH play a significant role in the resuscitation, stabilisation and transfer of critically ill children. Effective communication with the transport service and shared protocols enhance the performance of the DGH staff.