Closing tonight: Prehospital assessment reaches nearly 7K+ EMS & fire-rescue agencies

Thank you to the almost 7,000 EMS and fire-rescue agency participants in our national initiative to measure and improve prehospital care for children! A special thanks to State Partnership program managers and the EMSC Data Center (EDC) for their dedication in engaging agencies in the assessment and to the EDC for facilitating the assessment. After the assessment closes tonight at midnight, the EDC will spend several months cleaning and analyzing the data. Results will be shared in the coming months. For data questions, contact the EDC. For general questions on the project, contact the PPRP co-leads. Agencies are encouraged to use their gap reports to explore the Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Project Toolkit. If your agency can’t find a copy of its gap report, contact your state manager.

New study highlights Pediatric Readiness mortality impact over time

A study published this month in JAMA Network Open emphasizes the mortality impact of Pediatric Readiness in trauma centers over time. The study explored the impact in terms of changes in trauma center’s Pediatric Readiness scores between the 2013 and 2021 National Pediatric Readiness Project Assessments, which measures ED Pediatric Readiness on a scale of 0-100. Findings showed trauma centers with high readiness (persistent or increased to) saved an additional 643 lives over the eight year period. Trauma centers with low readiness (persistent or decreased to) had 729 preventable deaths. The results also suggested that a threshold of 90 points or higher may optimize the number of lives saved. Read the full study.

Children’s hospitals: Disaster Response Collaborative kicks off this September

Are the children's hospitals in your area ready for emergencies, disasters, and pandemics? Improve response capabilities by encouraging children’s hospitals in your community or state to register for the Pediatric Pandemic Network’s Disaster Response Collaborative (DRC). We invite you to get involved - collaborative sessions are open to the public and begin in September 2024. Add dates/times to your calendar now. For details, see the DRC website or email the team.

PECARN releases guide on collecting sociodemographic data

An article published in Pediatrics offers guidance on collecting race, ethnicity, and language; sexual orientation and gender identity; and socioeconomic and geographic data in pediatric emergency care research. The guidance was developed through the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network’s (PECARN) Health Disparities Working Group. The group’s aims were to summarize existing barriers to sociodemographic data collection, offer strategies for the consistent and reproducible collection of these data, and to provide rationale for suggested approaches. Read the article.

Pediatric Mental Health Care Access team convenes in Cleveland

Ten Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) teams, consisting of 36 attendees, staff, and presenters, gathered in Cleveland for their second annual meeting July 23 and 24. Sessions included a panel of medical experts across the emergency care continuum who shared how primary care providers can make connections to EDs and surrounding entities (e.g. schools and EMS). The teams also learned about the impact of meaningful measurement and applied the information through guided quality improvement activities and group discussion. Teams in attendance included the Chickasaw Nation (in Oklahoma), Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Vermont. Learn more about PMHCA's work with EMSC.

FAN work in the field: Webpage update

Learn more about how you can get involved and make a difference with FAN!

Family Advisory Network (FAN) members are actively involved in many EMSC activities, such as serving on advisory committees, spearheading community outreach projects, and contributing to resource development. If you're working on a project and need assistance or are interested in joining FAN, we invite you to explore our recently updated FAN webpage.