Talking Points About Pediatric Readiness to Guide Leadership Conversations

• Children account for 35 million ED visits each year. But most EDs see relatively few children compared to adults, meaning clinicians don’t get the same exposure to and experience with managing their care, resulting in gaps.

• The National Pediatric Readiness Project (NPRP) empowers EDs to ensure they have the coordination, systems, policies, equipment, and training needed to deliver safe, high-quality pediatric emergency care.

• Pediatric Readiness is measurable, achievable, and strongly linked to better outcomes.

• High Pediatric Readiness in EDs (typically defined as scoring >87 out of 100 on the National Pediatric Readiness Project Assessment) is associated with up to 76% lower mortality risk for critically ill children and 60% lower mortality risk for critically injured children.

• The mortality benefit persists out to one year after the initial ED visit.

• National modeling indicates that if all U.S. EDs achieved high readiness, more than one quarter of pediatric emergency deaths could be prevented, an estimated 2,100 or more children’s lives saved each year.

• Many high-impact readiness elements require modest investment, like designating existing ED staff as nurse and physician Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinators (PECCs) or ensuring the availability of pediatric-sized equipment.

• Economic analysis shows that achieving high levels of Pediatric Readiness costs $4–$48 per pediatric patient, depending on patient volume, delivering major outcome gains at low cost.

• NPRP is led by the federal Emergency Medical Services for Children Program in collaboration with multidisciplinary organizations representing emergency medicine, emergency nursing, pediatric care, and surgical trauma.
  
• All NPRP resources and tools are based on the latest evidence and best practices, which are developed through national consensus among multidisciplinary organizations and published in the form of a joint policy statement.
  
• EDs that participate with NPRP gain free access to pediatric emergency expert-vetted resources, including an assessment, checklist, and toolkit that support sustainable improvement.

• The NPRP Assessment provides each ED an individualized score, benchmarking information, and a confidential gap report with details about opportunities for improvement.
  
• All NPRP data are secure and confidential. Individual ED results and identifying information are protected; only de-identified, aggregate data are used for state or national analysis.
  
• Sites can track progress, benchmark nationally, and use data to support budgets, staffing requests, and accreditation efforts.
  
• States and national organizations can use aggregate findings to strengthen pediatric emergency care planning and resource allocation.

Pediatric Readiness supports clinical teams by:

• Improving clinicians’ confidence and comfort with pediatric patients.
• Improving clinician resiliency by lessening the likelihood of errors and adverse events.
• Ensuring teams feel more supported through clearly defined steps and responsibilities.

NPRP participation directly aligns with criteria for national and state programs, such as:

• State Pediatric Readiness Recognition Programs: EDs can be verified and publicly recognized for their Pediatric Readiness achievements by state EMSC programs.
• State regulations: Several states incorporate Pediatric Readiness elements into state regulations.
• ACS Trauma Center Verification: ACS’s trauma standards require participation in the NPRP Assessment.
• ACEP ED Accreditation: ACEP’s new accreditation program requires participation in the NPRP Assessment.

• Complete the National Pediatric Readiness Project Assessment for your ED to benchmark its current status of readiness.
  
• Identify or appoint a Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator (PECC) (ideally, both a nurse and a physician) to lead readiness improvement efforts.
  
• Use the assessment results and gap report t to gain buy-in and build a targeted improvement plan.