Best Practice Recommendations for Safe Transportation of Children in Emergency Ground Ambulances

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NTSA) Occupant Protection Division and Office of EMS have released best practice recommendations to ensure that America’s children are safely transported in emergency ground ambulances.
 
The new guidelines provide national, state, and local emergency medical services organizations with clear guidance on best practices for properly restraining children traveling by ambulance from the scene of a traffic crash or medical emergency to a hospital or medical facility. If widely adopted, the guidelines could serve as a tool for standardizing national child restraint protocols in ground ambulances across the United States.
 
The guidelines were developed with input from a working group comprised of experts from organizations and entities involved in the healthcare of children and the emergency transportation of children and others in ground ambulances. The National Volunteer Fire Council’s EMS/Rescue Section Chair Ken Knipper was among the members.
 
Click here to view the recommendations.
 
About NHTSA
Since the 1960s, NHTSA has worked closely with partners around the country to provide critical tools for improving EMS systems that include educational materials and resources for state and local EMS personnel and technical support for universal 9-1-1 systems. NHTSA works closely with federal partner agencies through the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS) and receives expert guidance through its National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC). Learn more at www.EMS.gov.