Awareness and First Aid

ER24’s Inter-Facility Transfer service (IFTs) plays a pivotal role in ensuring continuous patient care.

Imagine you’re on vacation in a small coastal town and you have a cardiac arrest. After being treated and stabilised at the local hospital, the doctors decide you need to be moved to a specialised facility with a cardiac unit. ER24, a leading inter-facility transfer provider, can co-ordinate the whole process.

“Our specialised medical transport services play a vital role in ensuring patients receive optimal care when they need to be transported between healthcare facilities,” says Sivern Naicker, ER24’s Contact Centre manager. “If a patient needs treatment that their current hospital can’t provide, ER24’s IFT services ensure they get the right care during transport, while ensuring patient safety.”

The critical link in patient care

Behind every successful inter-facility transfer is ER24’s dedicated Contact Centre, the operational hub for assessing, planning, and executing transfers. This centralised coordination ensures the right resources are assigned based on the patient’s needs, location, and urgency of care.

ER24’s Contact Centre IFT agents are trained to handle all aspects of a transfer. “Each case is carefully assessed to determine the level of care required during transport, the urgency of the transfer, and the most suitable transport method,” says Naicker. “This patient-focused approach ensures that the transfer process becomes part of medical care and not just a logistical operation.”

He explains that there are several reasons why a patient might need an IFT:

  • To upgrade to a better medical facility that has the required specialist, specific equipment, or unit.
  • To downgrade to a hospital to a rehabilitation centre or a sub-acute (less intensive care) facility.
  • If a patient wants to transfer to a hospital or facility closer to home or family
  • ER24 also teams up with aeromedical partners when needed. Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is used in exceptional cases when a patient needs life-saving, time-sensitive care.

ER24’s dedicated IFT agents liaise with the treating and the receiving facility. “They capture the patient’s personal details, clinical information, medication history, and medical aid scheme details,” Naicker explains.

It’s also important to know which facilities are designated service providers (DSPs) that are covered by the patient’s medical aid plan. If the patient is being transferred to a Mediclinic facility, ER24’s concierge service keeps the receiving hospital updated every 30 minutes to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Cutting-edge fleet and equipment

ER24’s IFT services are backed by a highly advanced fleet of ground and air ambulances. For more complicated cases, they use Critical Care Retrieval Services (CCRS) ambulances, which are equipped with the latest medical technology. This allows ER24 to transport even the most vulnerable patients, including babies and children, safely between facilities.

ER24 handles up to 3 000 transfers between hospitals each month.