The Pediatric Intensive Care Network (PIN)
The Pediatric Intensive Care Network (PIN) is an association of more than 40 children's hospitals that have set themselves the goal of improving medical care for critically ill children through close cooperation and joint patient care.
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PIN participants include Clinical Departments from all over Lower Saxony, Bremen, parts of Saxony-Anhalt, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, as well as some clinics from more distant federal states. The medical and logistical center of the PIN is the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine at Hannover Medical School. Commitment and work for the PIN are an integral part of our day-to-day medical and nursing work and an expression of our philosophy of providing the best possible care for as many seriously ill children as possible.
One goal: Optimal comprehensive care
The focus of the collaboration is on the joint care of seriously ill children, including transportation and on-site support, the development of joint treatment strategies and therapy standards, as well as the establishment and expansion of joint further education and training events. For example, monthly intensive pediatric workshops have been introduced in recent years. In addition, all PIN participants are offered several free certified pediatric resuscitation courses each year.
The PIN: training, advice & intensive care transfer
The direct influence of the PIN on the quality of patient care is particularly evident in the improved and accelerated Communications between the treating physicians. Critically ill patients and clinical problems can be discussed at any time of day or night. On-site consultation and direct co-assessment of patients by our team is possible at any time, so that transfers and potentially dangerous transports can be avoided. At the same time, all participating Clinical Departments have access to a 24-hour specialist pediatric intensive care pick-up service 365 days a year in cooperation with Deutsche Luftrettung. The PIN is a unique integrative care facility in Germany which, due to its great success and its positive effect on the quality of intensive care for children, has also been co-financed by the health insurance funds independently of patients for several years.
Coordination of the PIN
Dr. Michael Sasse is the founder of the idea of integrative care for seriously ill children. He has been responsible for networking the participating Clinical Departments since 2003. Only through cooperation - not only in clinical emergencies, but also in joint further training and the exchange of personnel and expertise - can a high quality of care for pediatric intensive care patients be achieved across the board.
The partner clinics in the PIN
An efficient and flexible network of clinics creates resources: transfers can create care capacities in referring clinics that might otherwise be tied up with patients requiring intensive care, and the capacity of the intensive care unit can be expanded through re-transfers. In this way, the young patients are the first to benefit from the network: care at the highest possible level, and whenever possible - close to home.
The advantages of the Pediatric Intensive Care Network
- Over 40 Clinical Departments are connected to the Hannover Medical School in the network.
- The PIN's catchment area extends beyond the borders of Lower Saxony.
- The mortality rate of PIN patients has been continuously reduced.