The clinical escort requirements depend on the dependency of the patient and the type of transfer. For most inter-hospital transfers of ventilated ICU patients, a minimum of a doctor at ST4 or above (or a senior clinical fellow with equivalent competency) plus a senior ICU-trained nurse is required. For patients with specific requirements — for example, those on ECMO, those requiring active neurosurgical monitoring, or haemodynamically very unstable patients — consultant accompaniment may be necessary.

In Scotland, the ScotSTAR service provides specialist neonatal and paediatric transport teams. Critically ill children should not be transferred by adult ICU teams — always involve ScotSTAR. For adult ECMO transfers, specialist ECMO-capable retrieval teams are required; this is a highly specialised transfer that goes beyond standard ICU transport capability.