Project Leadership
The Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Project (PPRP) is led by the federally funded Emergency Medical Services for Children Program and guided by a Steering Committee that includes support from multidisciplinary organizations. Project co-leads are Kathleen Adelgais, MD, MPH and Rachael Alter, BA.
Our History
As the National Pediatric Readiness Project for emergency departments (EDs) gains traction, pediatric emergency leaders recognize the need for a project that would similarly empower EMS agencies. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on EMS asks AAP’s Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine to develop a pediatric readiness in EMS systems policy statement that parallels the ED policy statement. AAP solicits support from the same authors that contributed to the ED statement: the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association, as well as prehospital-centric organizations—the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. This was the first time that these five national organizations were brought together to collaborate on a single policy statement.
In advance of the publication of the joint policy statement, the PPRP Steering Committee forms, comprising of representatives from more than two dozen organizations, federal agencies, and subject matter experts. Initial work of the committee focuses on the creation of a committee charter covering four project goals:
The Pediatric Readiness in Emergency Medical Services Systems Joint Policy Statement and corresponding technical report are published.
The steering committee develops the Prehospital Pediatric Readiness EMS Agency Checklist. Categories on the checklist match the recommendations listed in both the joint policy statement and technical report. Concurrently, a small workgroup of steering committee members forms to curate resources to populate a toolkit that corresponded with the checklist focus areas.
The EMS Agency Checklist and Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Toolkit launch nationally during EMS Week. The toolkit includes videos, best practices, research articles, simulations, and other resources covering:
The PPRP Assessment launches an assessment more than 15,000 EMS and fire-rescue agencies nationwide via https://emspedsready.org/, with 7,000 agencies responding.
JOIN US
If you would like to add your or your organization's support to the PPRP, email pprp@emscimprovement.center.
