Transport Under Transmission-Based Precautions

Key Points

• Patient transport under transmission-based precautions should be limited to essential needs only.
• Transport masking requirements depend on precaution category.
• Route-specific controls reduce risk of pathogen spread beyond the patient room.

Equipment

• Isolation signage and current transmission-precaution order
• Patient mask appropriate to ordered precaution (N95 for airborne transport context; surgical mask for droplet transport context)
• Staff PPE for transport team per precaution requirements
• Communication handoff pathway with receiving department

Procedure Steps

1. Confirm transmission-based precaution category and determine whether transport is essential.
2. If transport is nonessential, defer and continue in-room care when possible.
3. For essential transport, notify receiving team of isolation status before movement.
4. Apply patient mask according to route-specific guidance:
5. Use N95 mask for airborne-precaution transport situations.
6. Use surgical mask for droplet-precaution transport situations.
7. Ensure transport staff don required PPE per facility policy before departure.
8. Limit transport duration and unnecessary hallway exposure.
9. On arrival, complete safe handoff and reinforce continued precaution measures.
10. Doff PPE per protocol and perform hand hygiene after transport tasks.

Common Errors

• Transporting without clear essential indication → avoidable transmission exposure.
• Using incorrect patient mask type for isolation category → reduced containment during movement.
• Incomplete receiving-team notification → delayed precaution setup at destination.
• PPE doffing errors after transport → self-contamination and cross-unit spread risk.

Related

• transmission-based-precautions - Core framework for airborne, droplet, and contact isolation decisions.
• airborne-precaution-supply-readiness - Pre-entry and PPE-readiness behaviors support safe isolation workflows.