Life in the Fast Lane: Two Transport RTs Share Their Stories

Respiratory care is always full of excitement, whether you are responding to a code in the ICU or helping a COPD patient regain the ability to do the things they love in a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

But if you’re looking for the RT job most likely to get the adrenaline pumping, it is probably the role of a transport therapist. These are the RTs who are called upon to help deliver critically ill infants, children, and adults to definitive care. They work in cramped quarters, deal with limited equipment, and have only one or two other clinical crew members to turn to for support during transit.

Hooshang Baghaee-Rezaee, BS, RRT, RRT-NPS, and Nicole Flores, MPH, RRT, RRT-NPS, C-NPT, have been working as neonatal-pediatric transport therapists for decades now, and they will tell you that it isn’t for the faint of heart.

How they got started

Baghaee-Rezaee has been a respiratory therapist since 1980 and has served as a transport therapist for much of his career. Today, he is a member of the team at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. “Out of 40 years in the field, I have had the honor of actively going on transport almost 90% of the time,” he said.

In addition to caring for patients, he has been charged with teaching and training fellow team members, ranging from neonatal fellows to RTs and RNs, and has helped design the unique transporters used by his hospital.

His very first time serving as the RT on a transport set the stage for all that was to come. “My first solo transport with a team of two — an NNP and RT — was from Louisiana to Arkansas for an ECMO baby,” he said.

Looking back on it all, Baghaee-Rezaee says that working as a transport RT has been the most rewarding challenge he could have asked for.

Flores became an RT in 2004. Her interest in transport can be traced back to her RT program, where she learned about the specialty from a clinical instructor. “She was a transport therapist at our local children’s hospital, now called Advocate Children’s Hospital, and when I heard her stories and saw what she did, I was hooked,” she said.

She began working at Advocare Children’s while in school and served as a neonatal and pediatric critical care therapist for about 3 years before joining the transport team.

“I then split my time between bedside and transport for about another three years and have been solely transport since about 2010,” said Flores. “I earned my RRT-NPS in 2009 and obtained my C-NPT in 2012.” She is now the clinical team lead for the Advocate Children’s transport program in Elmhurst, IL.

During her 19 years on the transport team, Flores estimates she has been on hundreds of transports and maybe even more than a thousand. “My most exciting transports were helicopter flights on the Fourth of July,” she said. “My most challenging calls have involved difficult airways.”

Trials and triumphs

Both of these therapists admit the job comes with a unique set of trials and triumphs.

Baghaee-Rezaee compares a transport team to a high-end watch. “For a Rolex watch to work, all parts need to be operational,” he said, “and every part is equally important. So is every person taking part in every aspect of the transport.”

He emphasizes the need to maintain control over the process at all times, even if the situation itself seems to be spiraling out of control. “Deal with the situation and handle it correctly and safely — there will be time to huddle later,” he said.

Flores agrees that transport RTs must be ready for anything that may come their way. “One of the biggest challenges is being dispatched on a call with the information given, and then on arrival, the information is inaccurate,” she said. “It can be a challenge to rapidly adapt from your original plan to a new plan.”

Baghaee-Rezaee tries to ensure that he remains a good ambassador for his hospital, regardless of the situation, by recognizing the efforts the referring hospital has made on the patient’s behalf and capitalizing on any opportunities he sees to educate.

“Offer resources and do good without expecting the spotlight, because it is the right thing to do,” he said.

Flores echoes those sentiments. “Another reward of my job is going to other hospitals and helping the staff that may be uncomfortable with a neonatal or pediatric patient,” she said. “They are grateful for our help, and I feel good not only helping the patient, but also helping those staff members.”

When it comes to the triumphs, though, both therapists say there is nothing like the feeling they get from caring for their young patients — and their parents as well.

“Every transport is unique and exciting because you offer some hope to the parent who was hoping for a bundle of joy delivery but now must trust you to take their most important possession out of their sight for more comprehensive care,” said Baghaee-Rezaee. His program makes it a point to give parents a moment to touch their infants and take pictures before they leave, ensuring that, no matter what happens, they will have memories to cherish.

When everything goes right, it’s nothing short of amazing.

“One of the most rewarding things about my job is transferring a patient that was super sick, that you didn’t think was even going to make it through transport, to find out they made a full recovery,” said Flores.

Baghaee-Rezaee looks forward to seeing the babies go home, seeing a picture parents send the team, or maybe even seeing the baby again if the family stops by the unit on their way to the clinic.

Consider this Career

But is the transport specialty right for everyone? These therapists believe RTs considering the area should think carefully before taking the plunge. Nicole Flores suggests you ask yourself these four questions first:

1. How well do you cooperate with others, and can you work with a partner for 12 or 24 hours? What if your personalities clash?
2. Are you able to make decisions with confidence?
3. Are you able to adapt to changing situations? For example, different patient populations, different partners, different diseases or illnesses, and changing acuity.
4. Are you willing to study, develop advanced skills, and keep learning?

Hooshang Baghae-Rezaee adds these two to the list:

1. Can you physically tolerate flying?
2. Does this new opportunity fit your family’s needs and your life over the long term?

If the answers to these questions are “yes,” Baghae-Rezaee offers these tips on picking a transport program you’ll end up being happy with:

• Pay attention to how other team members conduct themselves.
• Find out if there is an opportunity for growth, education, and Innovation.
• Question the program’s track record on safety, reliability, and advanced planning.
• Find out how long their training is, what they require in terms of supplemental education, and what the compensation will be.

Medstar Georgetown University Hospital and Advocate Children’s Hospital have both earned the AARC’s Apex designation for their transport programs.