Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Toolkit and Checklist now live!

“Because prehospital emergency care of children plays a critical role in the continuum of health care ... the unique needs of children must be addressed by EMS systems.”

— “Pediatric Readiness in Emergency Medical Services Systems,” a January 2020 joint policy statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, Emergency Nurses Association, National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians, and National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

The National Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Project (PPRP) — an initiative of the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program that aims to improve prehospital care for children across the country — has finalized and launched two foundational resources: an EMS Agency Checklist and Toolkit.

“The PPRP is a multiphase, multiyear effort,” says Kathleen Adelgais, MD, MPH, Prehospital Domain Co-Lead. “Developing the toolkit and checklist were key steps in this process. We are incredibly grateful to our PPRP Steering Committee for their tireless work on these resources and are excited to share them with the EMS community.”

The toolkit & checklist

The Prehospital Pediatric Readiness EMS Agency Checklist is based on the 2020 joint policy statement and its corresponding Technical Report.

Topics covered by the checklist include:

• Education and competencies for providers
• Equipment and supplies
• Patient and medication safety
• Patient- and family-centered care in EMS
• Policies, procedures, and protocols (to include medical oversight)
• Quality improvement (QI)/performance improvement (PI)
• Interaction with systems of care

The checklist can be viewed here. To support use of the checklist, the PPRP also has developed the Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Toolkit. It includes more than 80 resources and is organized by the seven categories outlined in the checklist.

What’s next

The next major milestone will be the roll-out of a national assessment of EMS agencies to evaluate their pediatric readiness and to explore opportunities for improvement.

The PPRP mirrors the parallel National Pediatric Readiness Project, which focuses on pediatric readiness across the emergency continuum.

Interested in getting involved?

Prehospital EMS leadership and agencies are encouraged to follow this work, review resources when they are released, and partner with their EMSC Advisory Committee, EMSC State Partnership program manager (contact information can be found here), and other pediatric stakeholders on quality improvement activities.