Programmes based on early childhood development (ECD) services play a vital role in improving child health and developmental outcomes. Across many countries, these programmes target children under 5 years of age—including those who are healthy, at risk or with developmental disorders—and are implemented in governmental and non-governmental organisations in both the health and non-health sectors globally. This protocol outlines a scoping review designed to systematically map and synthesise existing evidence on the components, implementation strategies and delivery mechanisms of ECD services worldwide. The review aims to inform the development of optimised and comprehensive interventions that support holistic child development.

This review will be conducted by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and its recent advances. Several databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science, Scientific Information Database, Magiran, IranMedex and Barakat knowledge network system, will be initially searched for studies up to December 2024. All searches will be done for published or unpublished articles/reports without time and language restrictions. Two researchers will independently carry out screening of the included studies and extraction of data. Any discrepancies will be resolved by consensus. In case no initial consensus is reached, a third researcher will be consulted to make a decision. The findings will be synthesised through the content-analysis method.

The findings of this review may offer a novel perspective for developing a comprehensive package of ECD services within the Iranian health system. Furthermore, it provides a detailed roadmap for researchers and stakeholders aiming to enhance child health and prevent developmental disorders. This study received ethical approval from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (ID: IR.TBZMED.REC.1404.139), with no ethical concerns as it involves no patient participation or interventions.

Transporting critically ill patients between medical facilities can be hazardous and costly. Whether by road, fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter, many professional associations have proposed strategies to efficiently and safely transport patients at high risk of instability. Although these strategies have been assessed in some studies, no comprehensive synthesis of their benefits has been conducted to date. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of strategies to improve the safety and costs of interhospital transports for critically ill patients.

We will conduct a systematic review according to the Cochrane guidelines. The review will include randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies and case-control studies assessing the effect of interventions to improve interhospital transports of critically ill patients on safety and costs. We will search multiple electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library) from inception to 6 months prior to the submission of the final manuscript. Screening by title and abstract, full-text screening, data extraction and quality assessment will be performed by two independent reviewers. We will assess the risk of bias with the Cochrane revised tool for RCTs and with the risk of bias in non-randomised studies of interventions tool. If possible, we will calculate pooled effect estimates and 95% CIs to assess the effect of the interventions. We will also assess heterogeneity using the I² index and rate the certainty of evidence with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation tool and trial sequential analysis.

Ethics approval is not required for this review. The results of this systematic review will be shared through publication in a peer-reviewed journal, conference presentations and our network of knowledge user collaborators.

International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42024595080).