The EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center spearheads a Pediatric Readiness Quality Collaborative to assist state programs in accelerating their progress in improving the pediatric readiness of EDs through new interventions. A Train-the-Trainer model will be used to provide regional networks with tools to improve pediatric readiness. Twenty teams composed of training and affiliate sites will be guided to develop local quality improvement efforts to foster pediatric readiness. The project was launched in January 2018.
The purpose of this Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator Learning Collaborative (PECCLC) is to form a cohort of EMSC State Partnership Grant recipients to participate in a Learning Collaborative that will demonstrate effective, replicable strategies to increase the number of local EMS agencies with a PECC. Results from this project will inform and advance efforts with all 58 EMSC state partnership recipient sites to increase adoption of PECC within local EMS agencies.
The EIIC Disaster Domain seeks to support EMSC grantees and stakeholders to better prepare for disasters in a way that takes the specific needs of children into consideration. It offers a variety of resources and tools to facilitate disaster preparedness activities by healthcare providers, public health departments, schools, and family and caregivers.
Traumatic injuries continue to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity in children. The EMSC Program’s goal to reduce pediatric mortality and morbidity from illness and trauma provides the EIIC opportunities, within the continuum of trauma care, to support and influence quality of care rendered and improve outcomes of injured children while simultaneously impacting the EMSC Program goal.
There are many issues of national priority within the EMS community that while not age specific are very relevant to children of varying ages. Some of these issues include injury prevention, community paramedicine and human trafficking.
Much of the Hospital Based Care work carried out at the EIIC is currently focused on the National Pediatric Readiness Project and Quality Improvement Collaboratives. Data from the 2013/2014 Pediatric Readiness Survey helped identify four major opportunities to improve the delivery of pediatric care in emergency departments.
Focusing on pediatric emergency care, the EIIC Research Domain seeks to create knowledge and accelerate its journey to implementation; it supports EMSC grantees through technical assistance, education, and quality improvement collaboratives.
As HRSA moves to a model that is more focused on outcome and quality improvement, it is important that improvement can be demonstrated. Standardized performance measures are one method of ensuring that data collection and monitoring are completed in the same manner allowing comparison across organizations and over time.
