Anonymous donor funds new state-of-the-art kids care pediatric and neonatal transport ambulance

HUNTSVILLE – A new state-of-the-art ambulance has been added to Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children’s Kids Care fleet, which provides the only pediatric and neonatal critical care transport in North Alabama.

The Kids Care pediatric transport ambulance is equipped with specialized equipment that allows the highly trained Kids Care team to care for patients from 23 weeks gestation to 21 years old while transporting them to Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children from another area hospital. Onboard medical capabilities include ventilator management, CPAP, BiPAP, carbon dioxide monitoring, high-frequency ventilation, hypothermia management, and more.

The new ambulance was fully funded through a generous gift from an anonymous Huntsville Hospital Foundation (HHF) donor.

“Kids Care provides excellent, lifesaving care to more than 700 children across the region each year,” said Danielle Armstrong, Huntsville Hospital Pediatric ICU unit director and Kids Care coordinator. “This upgraded unit ensures our team can continue treating these critical patients while transporting them to Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children to receive the level of care they need. We are so appreciative of the donor who made this new ambulance possible for our community and hospital.”

The new Kids Care 1 vehicle replaces the hospital’s original Kids Care ambulance, purchased by Foundation donors in 2003. It joins the Kids Care 2 ambulance, which has been serving patients since 2019. KC2 was funded through proceeds from HHF’s 2018 Huntsville Classic, Miracle Bash and Swim for Melissa events.

“The impact of our generous donors is literally lifesaving,” said HHF President Sarah Savage-Jones. “The new state-of-the-art ambulance shows how just one person can step up and truly change lives across our entire region. We are deeply appreciative of this gift, and how countless donors made our other Kids Care transport ambulances possible. They have been part of every mile as a child was carried to the lifesaving care they needed.”

The Kids Care fleet is just one example of the comprehensive services offered at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children. The hospital serves almost 200 children every day in its specialty outpatient clinics, pediatric inpatient units and pediatric emergency department. This includes the region’s only Pediatric ICU, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic, Child Life department and the only Level III NICU to include neonatal transport.

About Kids Care

Kids Care provides service to all hospitals in North Alabama and central south Tennessee, transporting critically ill and injured infants and children to Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children. The Kids Care team has more than 200 years of combined experience specializing in pediatric/neonatal care, including a Registered Nurse and Respiratory Therapist. Kids Care is available 24/7 from Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children with a dispatch goal time of 20 minutes. Approximately 700 patients are transported annually. The ambulances were made possible by generous Huntsville Hospital Foundation donors.