Adequate resources, trained staff lacking for pediatric emergency care

Recommendations to improve emergency care for children from a three-part report by Institute of Medicine "should be considered and implemented immediately," Joseph Wright, a member of the IOM's Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System, writes in a Washington Post, opinion piece.

According to Wright, although "children account for nearly 30% of all emergency department visits, only 6% of emergency departments are properly equipped to handle them."

In addition, reports show that "emergency medical technicians, nurses and even doctors lack adequate pediatric training; that health care facilities lack sufficient pediatric resources; and that emergency department policies often overlook children," Wright says.

According to Wright, IOM "recommends that emergency departments and emergency medical services ensure appropriate staff and equipment to treat children; that there be explicit pediatric-specific preparations in disaster planning; that research into medications and technologies for pediatrics be supported; and that funding be increased for the Emergency Medical Services for Children program," which aims to reduce childhood disability and death due to severe illness and injury.

"[I]f we, as a society, want to properly address the emergency needs of children," then Congress should implement the recommendations, Wright concludes (Wright, Washington Post, 10/1).