Adopting Pediatric Readiness Standards Could Save Thousands of Lives

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Widespread adoption of standards designed to improve care for children in U.S. hospital emergency departments could save more than 2,000 lives each year, suggests an NIH-funded study. 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 to emergency departments each year.

The study was led by Dr. Craig D. Newgard 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).