white paper for pediatric er care

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY CARE

Become a “Kid-Qualified” Emergency Department

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY CARE www.valleyemergency.com2

It is not sufficient simply to provide guide-lines for children’s care or to implement

informatics for quality improvement.VEPeds establishes leadership

in emergency departments and hospitals for the care and safeguarding of children,

structures pediatric education and training for staff, and assures effective organization

of critical equipment and supplies.”

—Ronald Dieckmann, MD, MPH

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Much data indicates that children frequently do not receive adequate emergency care. The smaller the patient, the more likely he or she will not get sufficient pain relief, adequate physical evaluation, or early diagnosis. Most general ED physicians are more clinically confident with adults than with kids, and some need to augment their skill sets for pediatric diagnosis and treatment.

Children account for approximately

25%of emergency room

visits nationwide.

Why VEPeds?


• A comprehensive program that meets the challenges of providing pediatric emergency care

• Evaluates and enhances pediatric emergency services

• Provides leadership, knowledge, and resources in order that hospital emergency departments can meet the highest standards for pediatric emergency care

What is VEPeds?

Since 2009 VEPeds has been evaluating and enhancing pediatric emergency services.


VEPeds Overview

Dr. Dieckmann, along with a nurse consultant with whom he has partnered for 25 years, works directly with the hospital’s ED Director, ED Nurse Manager, pediatric staff, hospital administration, and the entire ED staff to carry on an assisted self-improvement project over a 12-month period. The goals of each project are unique to the needs and resources at the individual site.

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VEPeds brings a multitude of resources, education, training, and operational assistance to each ED assessment.


THE DETAILED PROGRAM INCLUDES:

ASSESSMENTONGOING

EVALUATION

TRAINING

SUPPORTORGANIZATION

AND COORDINATION OF

PEDIATRIC SERVICESThe program is intended to address the myriad

problems documented in the medical literature that sometimes cause catastrophic delays and deficiencies in children’s ED care.

VEPeds helps hospitals to comply fully with the national policy statement, “Guidelines for the Care of Children in the Emergency Department,” endorsed by the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Emergency Nurses Association, and 22 other national groups.


The survey examines multiple areas of ED’s pediatric care including:

■ ED leadership in pediatrics

■ Pediatric emergency provider qualifications

■ ED policies, procedures, protocols, and clinical practice guidelines for children

■ ED nurse competency in pediatric emergency care

■ Staff education and training in pediatrics

■ Pediatric equipment, supplies, and medications

■ Pediatric quality and performance improvement

■ Inter-facility transfer procedures

SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL

Reviews ED for existing level of preparedness for children.

Based on the AAP, ACEP, and ENA

2009 joint policy statement, “Guidelines

for Care of Children in the Emergency

Department.” Pediatric Preparedness Survey

VEPeds Process


■ ED tour

■ Pediatric mock code

■ Review of ED and hospital pediatric capabilities, based on input from survey

■ VEPeds-led discussion on the current “burning issues” for children

■ Clinical updates in emergency pediatrics

■ Summary of recommendations

■ Demonstration of the decision-support tool PEMSoft, a comprehensive multimedia, interactive database for pediatrics

ON-SITE MEETING

VEPeds Process

Following VEP’s review of the survey, a full-day meeting is held to include:


PEMSoft is:

PEMSoft is a vast, constantly updated web-based program and mobile app ED software tool, built as a point-of-care reference, founded and co-edited by Dr. Dieckmann.

ED staff reference for children: PEMSoft

VEPeds Process

■ Largest repository of visual information of pediatric pathology, from newborn to mid-life

■ Assessment-based and diagnosis-based

■ A visual support tool with 5,000 images and 120 videos

■ Bulleted and linked for easy access and navigation to > 1,000 topics

■ Created by hundreds of academic physicians

■ Updated daily

■ Backed by evidence-based citations and national guidelines that are summarized for rapid interpretation

■ Interactive, with resuscitation and calculator tools that allow practitioners to enter specific information about a patient and then receive explicit information about what to do


RESUSCITATION TOOL

PEMSoft

PEMSoft’s most popular module.

The practitioner enters either the length or age of a patient and then receives:

Algorithms for 31 different

critical care conditions

Equipment sizes

Appropriate drug doses

Specific sequence of

interventions

Links to detailed disease information at

multiple levels of depth


Following the PEMSoft demonstration and site visit, VEPeds sends an Implementation Kit.

IMPLEMENTATION KIT

VEPeds Process

EVALUATIONTRAINING

SUPPORT AND CONSULTATION

The ED has 12 months to implement

recommendations. During that time VEPeds provides

ongoing:

■ Quality improvement templates

■ Pediatric policies and procedures

■ Pediatric manuals

■ PEMSoft user manuals

■ Instructional slides sets

■ Disaster tools

■ Clinical practice guidelines

■ Staff support materials

It includes information and recommendations

such as:


At the end of the 12-month period, the ED department is provided a scorecard to determine if it meets qualifications to achieve “Kid Qualified” status. To qualify, the ED must score above 90 percent.

Scorecard categories include:

■ Leadership

■ Quality improvement

■ Safety

■ Peds policies

■ Support

■ Crash cart

■ Equipment

Those that qualify receive a press release template to be submitted to local media, a pediatric manikin, or a flat-screen monitor to display PEMSoft in a resuscitation room.

SCORE CARD

VEPeds Process


—Paul Beatty, M.D.Emergency Department

Medical Director, Sutter Amador Hospital

—Anne PlattCEO, Sutter Amador Hospital

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE

BY VEP?

“It (Kid-Qualified) demonstrates to the community that our physicians and nurses are fully prepared to serve the community and provide outstanding pediatric care.”

“We’re honored to receive this recognition. As a mother I know how anxious a parent feels when their child is in the emergency room. This certification will provide an extra level of comfort to parents who bring their young ones to our Emergency Department—they’ll know they are in good hands.”


VEPeds is led by Ronald Dieckmann, MD, MPH, former Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital for 25 years and Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been training doctors and nurses in emergency pediatrics for two decades and consults worldwide for pediatric emergency, trauma, and critical care systems.

Triple-board certified in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine, and general emergency medicine, Dr. Dieckmann has edited five first edition medical textbooks, is a frequent speaker at national and international medical conferences, and has received national awards for service to American medical education and training.

Dr. Dieckmann was educated at Harvard, Stanford Medical School, and Berkeley School of Public Health.

RONALD DIECKMANN, MD, MPH VEP Director of Pediatrics

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For more information about VEPeds, please contact:

VEPHealthcareP: 866-481-9001http://www.valleyemergency.com

white paper for pediatric er care

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