University of Wisconsin–Madison
A child is examined by a health care provider.

Pediatric EMS

Pediatric patients account for ~10% of all EMS incidents and caring for them is stressful for EMS providers. Provider discomfort often stems from differences in the approach to treating children versus adults, the infrequency with which children are treated, lack of familiarity or access to pediatric care equipment, and relative inattention to pediatrics during regular training.

It has been shown that emergency departments are more prepared to care for children (PDF) when there is a pediatric emergency care coordinator who is responsible for championing and making recommendations for policies, training, and resources pertinent to the emergency care of children.

We believe that EMS also benefits from access to pediatric expertise.

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Children are just little adults.
Nobody

Pediatric Readiness

Maintaining a state of readiness for treating pediatric patients involves multiple activities, including:

  • Ensuring that pediatrics are considered in the development of EMS protocols.
  • Collaborating with medical professionals with expertise in pediatric emergency care.
  • Ensuring access to pediatric-specific equipment and supplies.
  • Developing processes for delivering comprehensive, ongoing, pediatric-specific education.
  • Implementing practices to reduce pediatric medication errors.
  • Developing policies for the safe transport of children in emergency vehicles.
  • Developing protocols that guide destination determination for pediatric patients.
Dr. Michael Kim poses with a sign for the pediatric emergency department.
Dr. Michael Kim is the UW Medical Director for Pediatric EMS and Co-Chair of Wisconsin EMS for Children. He brings more than 25 years of pediatric experience to our team.
Read the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Policy Statement on Pediatric Readiness in EMS Systems (PDF)

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How We Promote Pediatric Readiness for EMS

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Pediatric Quick Reference Guide

To help EMS clinicians provide care to critically ill and injured children in our community, we developed an EMS Pediatric Quick Reference Guide, which helps to reduce cognitive load while caring for these uncommon and stressful types of patients. Features of the reference guide include:

  • Sizing of resuscitation equipment
  • Volumetric equivalents of common resuscitation medications
  • Helpful formulas for resuscitation
  • Normal vital signs by age
  • Commonly used phone numbers
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Dr. Kim and Dr. Lohmeier explain how to use the UW EMS Pediatric Quick Reference Guide.