Pediatrics: Kids need specialized care in hospital emergency departments

	Tweet

According to a recent IOM report, only 6 percent of U.S. hospital emergency departments are fully equipped to properly care for children. With high rates of novel H1N1 (swine) flu expected this winter, the time to address these deficiencies is immediate.

In a joint policy statement published in Pediatrics, “Guidelines for Care of Children in the Emergency Department,” pediatric emergency medicine specialists and others provide recommendations for appropriate equipment, training, medications, and policies for pediatric emergency care.

“Children account for 20 percent of all emergency department visits, yet most hospitals are unprepared to provide appropriate care,” said Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children’s National Medical Center. “The potential widespread impact of the Novel H1N1 strain of influenza underscores the urgency to ensure that our kids receive the best care when they come to their community hospital’s emergency department.”

Dr. Wright is trained as a pediatric emergency medicine physician and helped write the revised policy statement, released in the journal Pediatrics. Dr. Wright was also on the Institute of Medicine committee that wrote the 2006 report, “Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains.”

Examples of appropriate care can include the size of equipment, such as tubes for intubation, as well as ready access to specialists like pediatric anesthesiologists. The existence of specific policies and procedures to address the needs of children and families, particularly in times of surge, are also critically important.

###

This policy statement was funded in part by the federal Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program, which, along with 21 other professional organizations, has endorsed the statement. Children’s National Medical Center houses the EMSC National Resource Center, which was established in 1991 to help improve the pediatric emergency care infrastructure throughout the United States and its territories.

Contact: Emily Dammeyer/Jennifer Leischer: 202-476-4500.

Contact: Emily Dammeyer

202-476-4500
Children’s National Medical Center

RELATED STORIES:
Uninsured patients flood U.S. emergency rooms   Girls abused by dates at higher STD risk   Developing technologies to improve the treatment of craniosynostosis in children   Feds push blood pressure treatment for kids   California making headway in battle against childhood obesity but successes are uneven   Stress affects older adults more than young adults   Low birth weight linked to low IQ in teens   Childhood stroke study identifies the contraceptive pill and smoking as risk factors   Mom’s work schedule affects child’s development   Want your kids to do better in school? Try exercise   Lifestyle intervention reduces preschoolers’ body fat, improves fitness   2 years old—a childhood obesity tipping point?

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]