Most ERs Not Fully Equipped to Treat Pediatric Patients

• October 14, 2024
• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter

New findings may worry many parents: Nearly 8 in 10 emergency rooms lack the supplies and training needed to treat pediatric patients, new U.S. research shows.

To be ready to address children’s emergencies, ERs need “key pediatric equipment and supplies,” training, policies and staff tailored to meet pediatric needs, the researchers wrote in the analysis, published in the journal Health Affairs.

How did they arrive at that conclusion?

The national group of researchers developed a model to project the benefits, risks and costs of greater readiness in U.S. emergency rooms, using data from 747 emergency departments in Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

They looked at outcomes for a variety of pediatric patient types, comparing them with expected outcomes if they were treated in better prepared ERs.

Increasing pediatric readiness would lower mortality rates, boost life expectancy and improve pediatric patients’ lives, the researchers concluded, cutting hospital mortality by 33.47 deaths per 100,000 children, the Washington Post reported.

“Achieving and maintaining high pediatric readiness for all EDs in the US could save the lives of thousands of children each year, at an annual cost of approximately $260 million,” the researchers concluded.

It would be more cost-effective than other interventions such as routine hepatitis A vaccination, screening for children with extremely low birth weight and other programs, the study authors noted.

They added that a nationwide investment in pediatric ER readiness would be “robustly cost-effective,” the Post reported.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, kids make up about 20 percent of ER visits annually.

In 2015 alone, 17 percent of all U.S. children made at least one visit to the emergency room. Respiratory disorders, injuries and poisonings constituted the bulk of pediatric ER visits in 2015, the agency noted.

More information

The National Library of Medicine has more on pediatric emergency care.

SOURCE: Health Affairs, October 2024; Washington Post

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