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National Needs Assessment for a Pediatric Trauma Toolkit: General Requirements for Moderate- and High-Volume
Laura D Cassidy1, Sarah Benett, Erica Marion
1Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Dr Cassidy and Mss Benett and Marion); Wolfson Children's Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida (Ms Nichols); University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Dr Burke); St Vincent Evansville, Evansville, Indiana (Ms Gray); Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut (Ms Morrell); Dayton Children's Hospital, Dayton, Ohio (Ms Schwing); Children's Hospital of Orange County, Orange County, California (Ms Waunch); and Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio (Ms Haley).
Insights
A new pediatric trauma toolkit is needed to standardize care for injured children, especially at non-pediatric trauma centers. Survey results show a high demand for these guidelines to improve outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Trauma Care
- Trauma Center Verification
- Clinical Guideline Standardization
Background:
- Most children with severe injuries are treated at non-pediatric trauma centers, which may lack specialized training.
- Verified pediatric trauma centers report optimal outcomes, highlighting disparities in care.
- Non-designated centers may have deficits in skills and comfort treating severely injured children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify common pediatric guidelines for standardization across all trauma centers.
- To inform the development of a comprehensive pediatric trauma toolkit.
- To address the need for standardized pediatric trauma care in non-designated facilities.
Main Methods:
- A needs assessment survey was developed based on expert committee guidelines.
- The survey prioritized items for a pediatric trauma toolkit, distributed by professional trauma organizations.
- Survey data from 303 respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests.
Main Results:
- A majority of respondents highly valued the creation of a pediatric trauma toolkit.
- Variability in guideline access was reported, underscoring the need for the toolkit.
- Level III trauma centers showed the greatest need and interest in standardized pediatric guidelines.
Conclusions:
- Standardized pediatric guidelines are crucial for improving care at all trauma centers.
- A pediatric trauma toolkit can address identified gaps in guideline accessibility.
- Dissemination of standardized guidelines is essential for equitable pediatric trauma care.
Background:
Optimal outcomes have been reported for children treated at pediatric trauma centers; however, most children are treated at nonpediatric trauma centers or nonpediatric general hospitals. Hospitals that are not verified or designated pediatric trauma centers may lack the training and level of comfort and skill when treating severely injured children.
Objective:
This study focused on identifying common pediatric guidelines for standardization across all trauma centers to inform a pediatric trauma toolkit.
Methods:
A needs assessment survey was developed highlighting the guidelines from an expert committee review. The purpose of the survey was to prioritize needed items for the development of a pediatric trauma toolkit. Professional trauma organizations distributed the survey to their respective memberships to ensure good representation of people who care for traumatically injured children and work in trauma centers. Deidentified survey results were analyzed with frequencies and descriptive statistics provided. Data were compared by hospital trauma verification level using a chi-square test. The value of p < .05 was considered statistically significant.
Results:
A total of 303 people responded to the survey. The majority of respondents reported a high value in the creation of a pediatric trauma toolkit for the guidelines that were included. There was variability in the reported access to the guidelines, indicating a significant need for the toolkit development and dissemination.
Conclusion:
As expected, Level III centers reported the largest gaps in access to standardized pediatric guidelines and demonstrated high levels of interest and need.
