National System for Neonatal Transfer and Distribution of Ukrainian Children Requiring Hospitalization During the State of War in Ukraine 

The current situation in Ukraine revealed the need for international-based neonatal care. Such a situation might also be created by natural disasters and war in Ukraine as it exists currently. Due to absolute damage to the health care system in Ukraine, there is a need to accept patients from the neighboring country under a war state. To secure a smooth flow of infants from Ukraine requiring continuous hospital care, we have established a Polish electronic registry and an electronic free beds database. 

Neonatal Registry of Children from Ukraine (NRD UA) 

To control and gain the most important clinical information of the newborns transferred from Ukraine to Poland for continuous hospital care, the Neonatal Registry has been established. The electronic registry is provided in both Ukrainian and Polish languages at the following numbers: phone: +48780700527 and Viber: 0806365765. Preferable medical personnel should call the registry and provide the most critical information. It is essential to have in the registry all-important logistic information, e.g., time and location of the border crossing, to arrange the appropriate transport solution. Access to the NRD UA has limited personnel: Director of the Neonatal Triage Unit (NOT) Dr. Witold Błaż, National Consultant in Neonatology, Professor Ewa Helwich, and National Coordinator of the Neonatal Transport Professor Jan Mazela. 

Neonatal DataBase (NBD) 

In order to obtain full knowledge regarding admissions to neonatal intensive care units and monitor the number of available beds, this electronic database has been established. Each regional consultant received access to this database and was asked to update information regarding available beds in dedicated hospitals from each region. Information from this electronic database is freely available to the NOT Director. In such cases, there is easily available information about which hospitals have available beds, and infants can be transported as soon as possible and with the most optimized mode of transportation. 

Neonatal Triage Unit (NOT) 

The Neonatal Triage Unit is located in Rzeszow, just 70 m from the Ukrainian border. Its role is to admit newborns transported into Poland and registered in the NRD UA. This triage optimizes the transport time and allows the medical team to be prepared for clinical challenges. Infants are collected from the border by the dedicated neonatal transport team and brought to NOT in Rzeszow. After admission and initial stabilization, the Director of the NOT allocates the infant to a dedicated hospital based on the data from the NBD. He also orders the appropriate mode of transport: ground or air, according to established rules. Figure 1 presents the basic principles of the system. 

Air Transport 

The Polish Medical Air Rescue secures air Transport after a registration call from the NOT. This mode of transport is done by a dedicated airplane, and the local airport in Rzeszow is used for this purpose. In order to avoid irregularities during the air transport booking procedure, only dedicated personnel from NOT are performing this procedure. All needed information for booking and registering the dedicated air transport can be found at www.lpr. com.pl. Air transport is done only on distances longer than 200 km. 

Ground Transport 

All transports for a distance of less than 200 km will be done using a dedicated ambulance for neonatal transport. 

Information Letter 

In order to inform medical personnel in Ukraine and Poland regarding the main functional conditions of accepting infants from Ukraine into Polish hospitals, the following letter has been issued. 

Дорогі друзі, 

Нижче наведено інформацію, як зареєструвати новонароджених, які потребують госпіталізації та яких планується / необхідно доправити до Польщі. 

Для підтримання контролю над прийомом та для отримання основної клінічної інформації про українських новонароджених, яких необхідно доправити до Польщі для продовження лікування, створено центральний неонатальний реєстр: 

телефон: +48780700527 

Viber: 0806365765 польською та українською мовою. 

Операційні години – 8.00-16.00. Новонароджені повинні бути зареєстровані лікарем, який володіє інформацією, що стосується клінічного статусу пацієнта та знає місцезнаходження пацієнта, а також час запланованого перевезення та місце розташування запланованого пункту проходження кордону, якщо це можливо. Усі дані, необхідні для реєстрації новонароджених, представлені в таблиці 1. Доступ до НРД УА має національний консультант з неонатології – проф. Ева Хелвіч, директор відділення неонатальної патології новонароджених (НПН) – доктор Вітольд Блауж та Національний координатор логістики «N» – проф. Ян Мазела. 

«Szanowni Państwo, 

Przesyłamy informację opisującą jak należy zgłaszać noworodki wymagające hospitalizacji, przekazane do leczenia na terenie Polski. 

W celu kontroli i pełnej wiedzy na temat ukraińskich noworodków przekazywanych na teren Polski do dalszego leczenia szpitalnego stworzono Noworodkowy Rejestr Dzieci z Ukrainy (NRD UA), który prowadzony jest pod numerem tel.: +48780700527 oraz Viber: 0806365765 w języku polskim i ukraińskim w godzinach od 8.00 do 16.00. Pacjentów wymagających leczenia na terenie Polski mogą zgłaszać do NRD UA lekarze z terenu Ukrainy lub Polski, którzy posiadają pełną wiedzę dotyczącą stanu klinicznego pacjenta oraz pełne informacje osobowe oraz logistyczne, w tym miejsce i czas planowanego przekroczenia granicy z Polską, o ile możliwe. Dane potrzebne do rejestru pacjenta w NRD UA zawarte są w tabeli 1. Dostęp do NRD posiada Noworodkowy Oddział Triażowy (NOT) – dr Witold Błaż, Konsultant Krajowy w dziedzinie Neonatologii – prof. Ewa Helwich, Krajowy Koordynator Transportu „N” z ramienia Nadzoru Krajowego – prof. Jan Mazela.» 

Dear Friends, 

Below is information on registering newborns who require hospitalization and is planned/needed to be transferred to Poland. In order to maintain control of the admissions and obtain basic clinical information of the Ukrainian newborns to be transferred to Poland for continuous hospital care, there is a central neonatal registry: phone: +48780700527 and Viber: 0806365765 in Polish and Ukrainian language. Operational hours are 8.00-16.00. Newborns should be registered by a physician who is knowledgeable regarding the patient’s clinical status and knows the location of the patient and the time of the planned transport, and the location of the planned border checkpoint, if possible. All data required for newborn registration is presented in table 1. Access to the NRD UA has National Consultant in Neonatology – Prof. Ewa Helwich, Director of the Neonatal Triage Unit (NTU) – dr Witold Błaż, and National Coordinator of the Neonatal Transport – Prof. Jan Mazela 

Jan Mazela¹, Witold Błaż², Robert Gałązkowski³, Piotr Czauderna⁴, Maria Katarzyna Kornacka⁵, Ewa Helwich⁶ 

1. Department of Neonatology Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poznan, Poland, National Coordinator for Neonatal Transport 
2. Department of Neonatology and NICU, Saint Jadwiga the Queen Clinical Provincial Hospital, University of Rzeszow 
3. Polish Medical Air Rescue, Warszawa, Poland 
4. Department of Surgery and Urology for Children and Adolescents, Medical University of Gdańsk 
5. Department of Neonatology, Warsaw Medical University 
6. National Consultant in Neonatology, Institute of Mother and Child, Warszawa 

Dear Drs Mazela, Błaż, Gałązkowski, Czauderna, Katarzyna Kornacka, Helwich: 

I want to thank you for taking on this project of immense importance. Although the ravages of war are clearly disturbing, the effects on neonatal/perinatal care are oftentimes overlooked. The mobilization of the Polish transport system in the face of this tragedy must succeed for these most at-risk individuals. 

The free beds electronic database provides a structure in the face of a brutal conflict, disrupted healthcare, and resultant disparity. It must succeed. 

As Neonatology Today’s Central Europe Editor, we appreciate Dr. Mazela’s efforts in supporting the journal. We will continue to support these humanitarian efforts to the extent we can and encourage those who may be able to provide logistics, means, and financial support to reach out to Dr. Mazela directly. 

Mitchell Goldstein, MD, MBA, CML 
Editor in Chief 

NEONATOLOGY TODAY 
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