NEDARC sent a 2020 National Report to EMS agencies across the county regarding the results of pediatric emergency care coordination and skill checking on pediatric equipment. This report is available on the NEDARC website at https://nedarc.org/performanceMeasures/2020Results.html#Top

HRSA awarded over $101 million to combat substance use disorders (SUD) and opioid use disorders (OUD). The awards support 116 organizations in 42 states and the District of Columbia, some targeting high-risk rural communities.

HRSA awarded more than $21 million to support health centers' COVID-19 response efforts. The majority of this investment—$17 million—supports 78 Health Center Program look-alikes with funding to expand capacity for COVID-19 testing. The remaining $4.5 million was award to Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs). HCCNs support health centers to improve quality of care and patient safety by using health information technology to reduce costs and improve care coordination during COVID-19.

The EIIC is offering a limited number of free seats on a first come, first serve basis for the IHI Open School Online Courses. All courses must be completed by Sept 1st. Email Cassidy Penn (Cassidy.penn@texaschildrens.org) for more details.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) aims for equitable disaster planning and management for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults during the course of all disaster phases, such as preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery through resources and training materials shared on its AAP Children and Disasters website and through activities of its Council on Children and Disasters (COCD).

As an Emergency Medical Services for Children state partnership grantee or stakeholder, you are eligible to join the AAP as an affiliate member of the council or COCD. See details on member benefits and why you should join. This page on membership criteria includes a link at the bottom where you can create an AAP login and start the membership process. If you have questions about membership in general e-mail: membership@aap.org.

Election Day 2020 is Tuesday, November 3. The American Academy of Pediatrics is leading a robust Get Out the Vote campaign focused on the connection between health equity and voting. This election, we encourage pediatricians and those who care about children to vote like children’s futures depend on it. Multiple resources that are available to educate yourself, patients, families, and others can be found here.

Health care providers have been faced with many challenges this year that have been physically and mentally demanding. Your well-being is important. Join your colleagues to seek support and connect with your peers through Nurses Together: Connecting Through Conversations. https://www.signupgenius.com/org/nursestogether#/

We are looking for early adopters to provide feedback that will guide the KM work to improve content and inform the development of additional content before a broader national launch of the content. By registering as a user on https://emscimprovement.center “early adopters” will opt-in to receive early access to the content developed by the KM domain for their group and are asked to provide feedback. To this end, we have developed a personalized registration and login experience to keep you better informed of when new content becomes available. By registering on our website, you will receive early access to materials that have been developed for feedback, before broader launch. [FP(1] This will make you one of our partners in content evaluation before it becomes available publicly.

To register, select “Sign Up” in the top right box on https://emscimprovement.center, select the option “I would like to receive early access materials from the EIIC.” The time commitment for this work is approximately one-hour per month. By providing feedback, YOU will be helping us continually improve our resources and ultimately impact outcomes for children in urgent and emergent settings! Please share this opportunity with colleagues who might be willing to participate.

Note: if you already have a log-in you can still opt-in and add this feature by selecting your profile and adjusting your settings after logging in. Please reach out to Corrie Chumpitazi cechumpi@texaschildrens.org, Mohsen Saidinejad moh@emedharbor.edu, and/or marc.auerbach@yale.edu with any questions or feedback on the KM domain!

In July, the AAP published interim clinical guidance on Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The recommendations offer pediatricians guidance on the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and management of this rare but serious complication associated with COVID-19.

A related article for parents is available on HealthyChildren.org. Drs Ellie Hirshberg and Linda Siegel participated as SOCC representatives on the AAP work group that developed the guidance.

Visit the COVID-19 web page on AAP.org to find clinical guidance, practice management resources, including telehealth and coding, educational resources for clinicians and families, data reports, a discussion board, and details on AAP advocacy efforts. For questions or comments related to the pandemic, email COVID-19@aap.org.

Adversity and stress are unavoidable aspects of serving as EMS clinicians, thanks to the challenges of everyday EMS work and the added difficulties brought on by extraordinary events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. There are ways, though, to cultivate resilience, recognize and manage stress, and turn adversity into an opportunity for personal growth and becoming a better version of yourself.

Living Well and Leveraging Adversity and Stress Over the Long Haul: This special EMS Focus informative webinar addresses the challenges and stresses of EMS work and offers practical advice for cultivating resilience. Guest speakers include two EMS veterans, leaders and resilience experts that inform the audience about self-awareness, self-care, and specific actions, practices and wisdom for living well. The live webinar has been archived and is available at: https://www.ems.gov/ems-focus.html.

Pediatric Seizure Management Publications:

Multicenter Evaluation of Prehospital Seizure Management in Children

Paramedic-Identified Enablers of and Barriers to Seizure Management: A Multicenter, Qualitative Study

Pediatric Sepsis Publication:

Pediatric Outcomes After Regulatory Mandates for Sepsis Care

We know rural health care faces unique challenges in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Healthcare Resilience Working Group (HRWG) has developed the Rural Health Surge Readiness web portal, a collection of essential rural health care resources, tools, and training that health care workers and organizations – including EMS and 911, inpatient & hospital care, ambulatory care, and long-term care can utilize to prepare for and respond to COVID-19. This one-stop shop for rural health care lets users quickly find the information they need to prepare for or respond to surge events, navigate financial challenges related to the pandemic, and can enhance their capacity and capability to provide lifesaving care to Americans who live in rural areas across the country. Check out the portal. For more information, contact the Federal Healthcare Resilience Working Group.

On August 19th, the EMSC FAN webinar, Impacts of COVID-19 and Social & Health Disparities on the Delivery of Pediatric Emergency and Mental Health Care, brought together three experts from emergency psychiatry who addressed the following topics. The webinar was recorded and will be posted to the EIIC website’s webinar page here: https://emscimprovement.center/education-and-resources/webinars/

1. Clinical presentations in Emergency Departments during COVID, expectations for the fall- Dr. Vera Feuer[FP(1]
2. Providing crisis care through telepsychiatry/virtual emergency visits – Dr. Beau Carubia
3. Health care disparities, racism and bias in emergency care delivery- Dr. Annie Li

We are pleased to welcome Sarah Ronis, MD, MPH as the new EIIC lead for the Family Advisory Network. Dr. Ronis is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Child Health Policy and Research at University Hospital Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to providing clinical care, Dr. Ronis focuses on care coordination for children with special health care needs including optimizing the use of technologies to improve communication among caregivers and healthcare providers in community settings.