Introduction:

Transportation of children on land ambulances is still a problem not sufficiently researched throughout the world. Within this context, we aim to know the safety measures used in the transport of children in terrestrial ambulances and identify the knowledge of professionals on the measures to be adopted for this type of transportation.

Materials and Methods:

This was a quantitative, exploratory descriptive study. The analysis of the safety measures used when transporting children is based on the recommendations of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A questionnaire was applied to 135 nurses and Portuguese ambulance firefighters / crew based on four possible transport situations and covering five pediatric age groups.

Results:

Professionals adopt a wide variety of safety measures in practice, with a significant difference between the way they transport children and the way they consider it as ideal. The results of the transport assessment are closer to acceptable levels of safety than levels recommended as ideal. It is verified that women, professional graduates, and pediatric nurses transport children in ambulances more safely.

Discussion and Conclusions:

Many professionals are unaware of the possibilities of safe transportation for children and do not know of any recommendations for this type of transport. The accurate dispersion on how the transport is carried out and the results obtained suggest the need to regulate this transport, invest on the formation of the professionals, and raise awareness of health institutions on the importance of using restraint systems for children during their transport.

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