Autistic Man Falling Through the Cracks: Advanced Patient Transport and the "Pop-up" Recovery Ward.
Peter BrendtAlexander MathewsRandall GreenbergMark Henderson ArnoldPublished in: Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors (2019)
The Royal Flying Doctor Service was tasked to relocate a 19 year-old autistic patient with severe social anxiety, agoraphobia, and morbid obesity from one residential location to another. The retrieval team was confronted with two main challenges: 1) Continuous risk elevation in an elective patient transportation as distinct from other urgent prehospital transfers of mental health patients; and 2) prehospital ketamine/propofol sedation of an aggressive/combative patient with recovery from sedation in a private property. The transfer accomplished the successful relocation of the patient.