On April 13, 2015, the first manuscript addressing key findings from the 2013-14 Peds Ready assessment was published online in JAMA Pediatrics (see “National Assessment of Pediatric Readiness of Emergency Departments"). A few important data points highlighted in the article, include:

• The national overall hospital Pediatric Readiness median score is 69.
• Only 47% of responding facilities had included pediatric specific considerations into their hospital disaster plans. Even those facilities where children are frequently cared for had opportunities to improve their disaster preparedness.
• Only 45% of hospital EDs reported having a pediatric care review process and only 58% of respondents had defined pediatric quality indicators.
• The presence of a physician and nurse pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) was associated with a higher adjusted median Pediatric Readiness score compare with no PECC.

For more information on each finding, see below.

Overall Peds Ready Scores

In 2013, more than 4,100 emergency departments (ED) across the nation voluntarily participated in an assessment to determine their readiness to care for a sick or injured child. It is exciting to see that so many hospitals in this country (83% of the approximately 5,000 hospitals nationwide) participated in the assessment and indicated their widespread interest in improving care for children.

The majority of hospitals that participated in the assessment were hospitals that see the lowest volume of pediatric patients per year. Low volume hospitals can see as few as two pediatric patients per day, whereas higher volume hospitals in urban settings can see as many as 200 children per day. Read More...

Disaster Preparedness

Of the 4,146 emergency departments (ED) that participated in the 2013 National Pediatric Readiness assessment, only 47% (n=1,990) responded that they have a disaster preparedness plan in place that addressed the unique needs of children. This is of great concern considering that children have unique, often complex physiological, psychosocial and psychological needs that differ from an adult, especially during disaster situations. Unfortunately, children more often than not are involved when disasters occur. Read More...

Pediatric Care Review Process

An important emergency department (ED) void identified in the initial data analysis was the lack of a pediatric patient care review process that included pediatric quality indicators. Only 45% of hospital EDs reported having a pediatric care review process and only 58% of respondents had defined pediatric quality indicators. To assist facilities in developing a quality improvement process addressing the needs of children, a webinar was held on December 17, 2014: Pediatric Readiness Data: An Opportunity to Improve Quality of Care in Your Emergency Department. The event attracted more than 400 registrants. Content from this webinar has been converted to an online education tool linked to continuing education credit.

Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinators

Analysis of Pediatric Readiness assessment data validated that having pediatric emergency care coordinators (PECC) in an emergency department (ED) increased the likelihood of emergency department readiness for children. According to a recently released article by Marianne Gausche-Hill, MD, "The presence of physician and nurse PECCs was associated with a higher adjusted median pediatric readiness scores (82.2) compared with no PECC (66.5) across all pediatric volume categories. The presence of PECCs increased the likelihood of having all the recommended components, including a pediatric quality improvement process."1 Read More...