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Pediatric Preparedness of the Emergency Departments

Peck Har Ang1, Shu-Ling Chong2, Yong-Kwang Gene Ong2

  • 1From the Accident and Emergency Department, Changi General Hospital, SingHealth.

Pediatric Emergency Care
|October 21, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Preparedness for pediatric emergency care varied across emergency departments (EDs). General EDs showed lower adherence to Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) standards compared to pediatric EDs.

Area of Science:

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Pediatric Care
  • Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

  • Emergency departments (EDs) exhibit variability in their readiness for pediatric emergency care.
  • Higher mortality rates are associated with unprepared EDs.
  • Established guidelines exist to enhance ED preparedness for pediatric emergencies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the preparedness of EDs within a specific healthcare cluster for pediatric emergency care.
  • To utilize guidelines from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) as audit references.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study was conducted across one pediatric ED and three general EDs.
  • A survey was administered to pediatric representatives in each ED to evaluate adherence to standards in 2018.
  • Availability of pediatric equipment, supplies, and medications was verified against IFEM recommendations.

Main Results:

  • General EDs demonstrated lower agreement with RCPCH (11.4%-70.0%) and IFEM (39.6%-84.0%) standards compared to the pediatric ED (RCPCH: 85.7%, IFEM: 91.7%).
  • Commonly unmet standards included complex pediatric cases, pediatric death management, adolescent care, mental health, safeguarding, and advanced training.
  • General EDs had lower availability of essential pediatric equipment, supplies, and medications (77.2%-82.0%) than the pediatric ED (89.4%).

Conclusions:

  • Pediatric emergency care standards are inconsistently met across the healthcare cluster.
  • EDs must identify and address specific deficiencies using available guidelines to improve pediatric emergency care delivery.
Abstract

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