Adopting pediatric readiness standards in emergency departments could save more than 2,000 lives each year

Widespread adoption of standards designed to improve care for children in U.S. hospital emergency departments could save an estimated 2,143 lives each year, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The standards are published by The National Pediatric Readiness Project, an initiative to empower all emergency departments to provide effective emergency care to children, and  encompass training for staff, coordination of health care, and the procedures and medical equipment needed to care for ill and injured children. According to the study, adopting the standards would range from no cost to $11.84 per child, depending on the state.

The researchers analyzed data on the readiness standards of 4,840 hospital emergency departments in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Their analysis included data on children ranging from birth to 17 years old who needed emergency services, hospitalization, transfer to another hospital or who had died in the emergency department.

A total of 842 emergency departments (17%) had high pediatric readiness. Based on the cost of emergency department services, the researchers estimated that the annual cost for all U.S. emergency departments to reach high readiness was more than $207 million. The authors concluded that implementing the standards in all U.S. emergency departments may have prevented an estimated 2,143 (28.1%) of the 7,619 U.S. pediatric deaths that occur in emergency departments or following admission from emergency departments each year.

The study was led by Craig D. Newgard, M.D., of Oregon Health & Science University, Portland. It appears in JAMA Network Open. Funding was provided by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Who

Cinnamon Dixon, D.O., M.P.H., of the NICHD Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch, is available for comment.

Article

Newgard, CD et al. State and national estimates of the cost of emergency department readiness and lives saved. JAMA Network Open (2024).

About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): NICHD leads research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. For more information, visit https://www.nichd.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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