The Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval (PIPER) Paediatric team transfers sick babies and children from hospitals throughout Victoria and Southern New South Wales to the Royal Children's Hospital, Monash Children's Hospital and occasionally to other hospitals.

Retrieval Team

Responsibility for clinical advice and retrieval operations lies with the PIPER Consultant / Senior Registrar, supervising the retrieval teams. All retrievals are performed by a doctor, nurse and in some cases a paramedic as well. Medical staff are either experienced registrars (>4 years training in paediatrics, intensive care, anaesthesia or emergency medicine) with extra training in retrieval medicine or, in some highly complex retrievals such as transport on extracorporeal life-support (ECMO), they are senior ICU specialists from the RCH PICU.

PIPER nurses are experienced nursing staff with a strong background in looking after critically ill children as well as in retrieval nursing. They have undertaken a 1-year post-graduate specialist course in PICU nursing, attended a PIPER Workshop, Air Ambulance Orientation, and completed a Competency Package. Many nurses have also completed the Introduction to Aeromedical Retrieval Course through Monash University and the Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) Course.