What is an Interfacility Transfer? When a medical emergency strikes, getting to the nearest hospital is at times just step one. That is where an Interfacility Transfer comes in. Think of the advanced ambulances of the Jackson Parish Ambulance Service District (JPASD) as mobile Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

The highly trained and dedicated EMTs do not just drive; they also bring high-level emergency care directly onto the highway to safely transport critical patients between facilities. Sometimes, saving a life means getting that patient to a specialized care Hospital, and whenever appropriate, generally in collaboration with the Louisiana Emergency Response Network, ambulances may be initially directed straight to these facilities and bypass the closest hospital.

Here is what you need to know about how these vital transfers work:

Specialized Care Transports:
Patients are moved because they need advanced treatment like a trauma center, cardiac cath lab, or an ICU. These facilities can be as far away as New Orleans, Jackson (Mississippi), Covington, Metairie, Lafayette, Dallas, or as close as Monroe, Shreveport, and Alexandria.

Physician Directed:
Every transfer is ordered and coordinated directly by the sending and receiving doctors to ensure seamless care.

JPASD Call Report for July

When you see the lights and sirens of a JPASD ambulance, it might be rushing to a 911 call—or it might be keeping a critical patient stable on their way to the life-saving surgery they urgently need. In the month of July, the JPASD responded to 356 total calls.

A disposition breakdown shows that 251 calls were transports, and 83 were situations in which treatment was provided, but no transport took place. In 11 cases, JPASD was on standby or provided public assists, and in 11 more cases, the calls were canceled.

Dispatch reasons by percentage showed that 61% were other transports, 16% were Interfacility Transfers, 11.5% were for traffic accidents, 9% were for falls, and 2.5% were stand-bys.

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