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Journal of Perinatology (2015) 35, 110114 2015 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved 0743-8346/15
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Decreasing sound and vibration during ground transport of infants with very low birth weight
J Prehn1, I McEwen2, L Jeffries3, M Jones3, T Daniels4, E Goshorn4 and C Marx4
OBJECTIVE: To measure the effectiveness of modications to reduce sound and vibration during interhospital ground transport of a simulated infant with very low birth weight (VLBW) and a gestational age of 30 weeks, a period of high susceptibility to germinal matrix and intraventricular hemorrhage.
STUDY DESIGN: Researchers measured vibration and sound levels during infant transport, and compared levels after modications to the transport incubator mattresses, addition of vibration isolators under incubator wheels, addition of mass to the incubator mattress and addition of incubator acoustic cover.
RESULT: Modications did not decrease sound levels inside the transport incubator during transport. The combination of a gel mattress over an air chambered mattress was effective in decreasing vibration levels for the 1368 g simulated infant. CONCLUSION: Transport mattress effectiveness in decreasing vibration is inuenced by infant weight. Modications that decrease vibration for infants weighing 2000 g are not effective for infants with VLBW. Sound levels are not affected by incubator covers, suggesting that sound is transmitted into the incubator as a low-frequency vibration through the incubators contact with the ambulance. Medical transportation can apply industrial methods of vibration and sound control to protect infants with VLBW from
excessive physical strain of transport during vulnerable periods of development.
Journal of Perinatology (2015) 35, 110114; doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/jp.2014.172
Web End =10.1038/jp.2014.172 ; published online 27 November 2014
INTRODUCTIONApproximately 480 000 premature infants are born each year in the United States, with nearly 58 000 of these weighing less than 1500 g, thus being classied as having very low birth weight (VLBW).1 Because perinatal care in the United States of America is regionalized, preterm infants who have VLBW and are born at outlying hospitals are routinely transported to tertiary care facilities soon after delivery. Infants with VLBW who are transported are more likely to experience an intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) than non-transported infants, and any IVH that occurs is likely to be more severe than the one experienced by infants born at tertiary care facilities.2,3 These...