Neonatal Transport System in Developed and Developing Countries: A Comparative Study

This study was aimed to compare neonatal transport system in developed and developing countries. In this qualitative study, 12 neonatal transport systems in nine developed and developing countries including; United State of America, Britain, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Scotland, Hungary, India and China have been studied retrospectively using comparative approach. Selected transport systems were compared based on searching in neonatal transport systems websites according to four criteria of comparative study including: transport team personnel, transport types and organization forms, the situation of these countries in neonatal transport and neonatal health indicator of the mentioned countries. The results showed that trained nurses were working as the team’s major staff and medical or paramedic staff could be added to the team according to the transport’s condition. In all of the countries, appropriate regionalization and proper management were the most important factors in the success of the system. Also, neonatal transport system has had important impact on reducing neonatal mortality rate. Implementing appropriate system needs designing a suitable management network which is equipped with managerial, informational and communication systems as subsystem in communicating with Emergency Medical Services. Neonatal health should be improved by developing pregnancy care and expanding regionalization program among all providers in all levels of health system. For assuring the efficiency of the system, a regionalized neonatal transport system needs to be developed and resources must to be allocated according to the needs.