Fletcher Allen Coordinated Transport (FACT) is Fletcher Allen Health Care's critical care transport service.  Since it's inception in June of 1995, nearly 10,000 patients have been cared for by this unique service.  FACT's mission is to provide safe and competent critical care transport to patients requiring an elevated level of transport care.  Our specifically equipped and staffed ambulances respond to referral hospitals throughout Vermont and northern New York.  FACT primarily transports both adult and pediatric patients with critical needs  to Fletcher Allen Health Care. This service is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.

FACT has three staffed ambulances available during the day, including one housed at the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone NY.  From 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM FACT has one crew available from Burlington. FACT also transports patients from Fletcher Allen Health Care to medical centers in Boston, Montreal, New York City and to other New England tertiary care medical centers. FACT is staffed with critical care nurses, paramedics and intermediate-level Emergency Medical Technicians.  The Emergency Department physicians at Fletcher Allen Health Care provide medical direction for the FACT team. When transporting children the team takes medical direction from the attending physician in the pediatric intensive care unit.

   We provide critical care and trauma nursing practice primarily via ambulance and occasionally fixed-wing transports. The transport nurse functions as a team leader, has an elevated level of autonomy, and has a scope of practice which includes: Endotracheal intubation, Rapid sequence induction, management of vasoactive drips, central line access and needle chest decompression. In addition, our staff is trained in areas such as high-risk obstetrics, pediatric and adult respiratory therapy, SICU (surgical intensive care unit), intra-aortic balloon pump management, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP).  There are monthly case reviews and topic presentations at staff meetings, and an ongoing performance improvement and quality assurance program. Non-transport time is spent providing intra/extra hospital education, and working in the FAHC Emergency Department, Surgical Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

  Specialized, adult and pediatric critical care equipment is available in all FACT ambulances. These transport vehicles are equipped with transport ventilators capable of several modes of ventilation, a liquid oxygen system, invasive line monitoring equipment; internal and external pacing; external defibrillation; infusion pumps; doppler; pulse oximetry; end tidal CO2 monitoring; non-invasive blood pressure monitoring; and an extensive selection of pharmaceuticals. The transport vehicles can be reconfigured to accommodate an intra-aortic balloon pump, bariatric patient or a pediatric isolette.

To request the FACT team please call our dispatch at 1-888-389-3228

 Frequently Asked Questions for Healthcare Professionals

FACT Staff Only Section