2013 EMSC Program News


Iowa's EMSC Pediatric Advisory Committee Chair Named One of Iowa's Great Nurses (05/16/13)

Each year, nurse and community leaders within the state of Iowa select 100 Great Iowa Nurses, and on May 5, 2013, Iowa's EMSC Advisory Council Chair Kristel Wetjen received this honor.

Nurses selected for this honor represent many sectors of health care, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and school and office nurses. Nominations are "blinded" (identifying information removed) and sent to a panel of reviewers, all past honorees, around the state. Every attempt is made to geographically separate the nominee from the reviewer, again to preserve anonymity, and three different reviewers read each nomination.


Guam EMS for Children Sponsors Disaster Teams Triage Training (05/13/13)

On May 8, the Guam EMS for Children program, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Guam Fire Department, Guam Memorial Hospital Authority, Guam Community College, the University of Guam, and the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program, sponsored the Disaster Teams Triage Training at Ocean View Middle School in Agat, Guam. This training enabled first responders to provide emergency medical care during a simulated pediatric disaster.


PECARN Publishes on Early Oxygenation and Ventilation Measurements After Pediatric Cardiac Arrest (05/10/13)

A Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) study published in Critical Care Medicine aimed to explore oxygenation and ventilation status early after cardiac arrest (CA) in infants and children. The CA database was populated by retrospective review of pediatric CA events that occurred between July 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004, at 15 hospitals within PECARN. All children 24 hours to 18 years of age who experienced CA with return of circulation for greater than or equal to 20 minutes and were treated at a participating center were eligible. The primary outcome variable was survival to hospital discharge with good neurological outcome. Hospital mortality was evaluated as a secondary outcome.

Careful analysis of 195 events revealed that abnormalities in oxygenation and ventilation are common during the initial six hours after pediatric cardiac arrest with hyperoxia being the most frequent. Ventilation status, however, was more evenly distributed among hyperventilation, normoventilation, and hypoventilation. Derangements in both oxygenation and ventilation were common early after cardiac arrest such that both normoxia and normocarbia were documented in only 25 patients. Oxygenation and ventilation status were not associated with outcome. After controlling for potential confounders, arrest location and rhythm were significantly associated with worse outcome; however, hyperoxia was not.

Although the study did not demonstrate an association between hyperoxia and worse outcome, the small proportion of patients kept within normal ranges limited the study's power. Preclinical data suggesting potential harm with hyperoxia remain compelling, and further investigation is necessary to further advance our understanding of this important topic.


IHS Recruiting a Nurse Consultant to Serve as EMSC Liaison (04/18/13)

The Indian Health Services (IHS) is recruiting for a nurse consultant and advisor to serve as the EMS for Children Program liaison for the tribal communities. This individual will lead, monitor, assess, and evaluate IHS efforts to improve the quality of care provided to children in emergency settings. This individual will collaborate with the Health Resources Services Administration; universities, and national, regional, state, and tribal EMS agencies and organizations to fulfill program objectives. The nurse consultant will also be responsible for coordinating and conducting training, consultation, and technical assistance to enhance pediatric emergency readiness and injury prevention for hospital staff and communities.


Texas EMSC Announces New Program Manager (04/08/13)

Texas EMS for Children (EMSC) welcomes its new program manager, Sam Vance, BA, NREMT-P. Mr. Vance started his EMS career in 1987 as an emergency medical technician with the City of St. Louis Emergency Medical Services. During his time in St. Louis, Mr. Vance obtained his paramedic license and was promoted to the rank of Paramedic Crew Chief. Mr. Vance also served as a firefighter and a pre-hospital outreach coordinator. As a pre-hospital outreach coordinator, Mr. Vance coordinated and taught outreach educational classes and was the liaison between St. Louis Children's Hospital and the regional Fire/EMS agencies. Mr. Vance has also been involved in EMSC as a member of the Pediatric Subcommittee of the Missouri State Advisory Council on EMS and was active with the EMSC Continuous Quality Improvement in Illinois Region 4 and 5. The EMSC family would like to congratulate Mr. Vance on his new role!


Now Available: HRSA Resources on Grant Writing (04/05/13)

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has produced two grant writing resources: "Tips for Writing and Submitting Good Grant Proposals" and "The HRSA Grants Life Cycle." Both resources are available on the EMS for Children National Resource Center website and on HRSA's YouTube Channel.


HRSA Seeks Grant Reviewers (04/04/13)

The Health Resources and Services Administration is seeking reviewers for the Emergency Medical Services for Children Targeted Issues competitive grant application. Knowledge and experience in emergency medical services is preferred. Prior experience as a grant reviewer is not required. If you are interested in becoming a grant reviewer please click on the link below and register by April 12, 2013.

https://grants.hrsa.gov/webReview/


Kansas EMSC Seeks New Program Manager (03/28/13)

Kansas is looking for an energetic person to fill their EMS for Children (EMSC) program manager position. Located in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, this person provides on-going program planning, development, implementation, and evaluation for a multiple channel EMSC Program that includes research, education, and evaluation activities. This position will also coordinate community based prevention projects. Position details can be found at https://www.da.ks.gov/ps/pub/reqinfo.asp?id=174169.


Montana EMSC Welcomes New Program Manager! (03/21/13)

Montana would like to introduce Robin Suzor as the new EMS for Children (EMSC) program manager. Ms. Suzor's academic background is in accounting and psychology. Previously she worked for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services' Child and Family Services Division where she identified and implemented strategies to combat child abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.

Ms. Suzor is married with two children and one grandchild, and she likes to hike and fish. In addition to being Montana's new EMSC program manager, she's already getting her feet wet with the Peds Ready assessment and Montana's State Partnership Regionalization of Care grant. The EMSC family congratulates Ms. Huffman on her new role!


Indiana EMSC Announces New Program Manager (03/18/13)

Indiana EMS for Children (EMSC) welcomes its new program manager, Gretchen Huffman, RN. Ms. Huffman will also assume the role of preparedness advisor at MESH, a non-profit, public-private partnership that enables healthcare providers to effectively respond to emergency events.

Ms. Huffman has been active with Indiana EMSC for many years as a member of its advisory board. She has extensive experience in research and program management, having previously worked with the Indiana University Department of Emergency Medicine. Ms. Huffman has more than 11 years of paramedic experience and more than six years as a nurse in the Wishard Emergency Department. The EMSC family would like to congratulate Ms. Huffman on her new role!


Pennsylvania SPROC Grantee Shines in Local News (03/15/13)

Last week, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review featured a story on Pennsylvania State Partnership Regionalization of Care (SPROC) Grantee Jeremy Kahn, MD, MS, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the launch of his current project, "Optimizing Utilization and Rural Emergency Access for Children (OUTREACH)." OUTREACH allows professionals from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC to examine and diagnose pediatric patients remotely. Congratulations to the Pennsylvania SPROC team! Keep up the good work!


NHTSA Releases "Progress on Evidence-Based Guidelines for Prehospital Emergency Care" (03/14/13)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released "Progress on Evidence-Based Guidelines for Prehospital Emergency Care," a technical report providing background on the importance of an evidence-based guidelines (EBG) model in improving the quality of prehospital care. The report also describes the development of the EBG model process and the steps taken to develop a pilot. This report highlights the work done by NHTSA's Office of EMS, the EMS for Children (EMSC) Program, and EMS stakeholders to create and pilot a test model for developing and implementing evidence-based guidelines for prehospital emergency care.


Alaska EMSC Advisory Committee Member Appointed as Dual Chair (03/08/13)

Danita Koehler, MD, an emergency physician and EMS for Children (EMSC) Advisory Committee member, has been elected chair of the Governor's Alaska Council on Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS), a council that provides the commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services and the Governor with recommendations related to all aspects of EMS, including policy development. In addition to her state-appointed position, Dr. Koehler has also been elected chair of the National Association of EMS Physicians' Rural EMS Committee. The Rural EMS Committee is comprised of EMS physicians that serve as a resource and advocate for medical care in the out-of-hospital setting for EMS physicians and other EMS personnel. Congratulations Dr. Koehler on your exemplary leadership roles!


Collaborative Tool Kit Applauded by National Organizations Wanting to Improve Transfer Processes for the Pediatric Patient (03/07/13)

Two weeks ago, the EMS for Children National Resource Center, the Emergency Nurses Association, and the Society of Trauma Nurses released the Inter Facility Tool Kit for the Pediatric Patient. Since its release, the EMSC Program is proud to announce that the following organizations/groups have made the new product available to their members via member websites and special member listserv announcements:

  • Emergency Nurse Association
  • Society of Trauma Nurses
  • Pediatric Trauma Society
  • Trauma Center Association of America
  • Texas EMS, Trauma & Acute Care Foundation
  • National Association of State EMS Officials

This collaborative tool kit illustrates the important role partnerships play on the production and dissemination of a product.


Pennsylvania EMSC Seeks EMS Systems Specialist (02/28/13)

The Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council (PEHSC) is currently seeking an EMS systems specialist whose primary responsibility will include management of the Commonwealth's EMS for Children (EMSC) State Partnership grant program.

Applicants should be highly motivated independent thinkers with knowledge of EMS systems. Responsibilities will include writing recommendations and policy guidelines, developing projects geared toward facilitating the implementation of established EMSC program goals, and providing technical assistance in other areas as requested.

Minimum qualifications include a Bachelor's degree and prior EMS experience. Excellent verbal and written skills are required. Please forward qualifications and salary requirements no later than March 22, 2013 to pehsc@pehsc.org.


Texas EMSC Seeking Program Manager (02/25/13)

The EMS for Children State Partnership grant in Texas is based at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and is currently accepting applications for its program manager position. Qualified applicants should have a Bachelor's degree and prior experience working in emergency care, pediatric care, public health, or public policy.

The following are desired (yet not required): experience as an emergency medical technician or nurse in an emergency department; Master's level education in public administration, public health or public policy; and experience with grant writing, manuscript preparation, meeting facilitation, project planning, web page design, and using quality improvement methodology in health care. For more information or to apply, please view position 231250 at http://www.medschooljobs.org.


Register for Upcoming Meeting: 2013 NASEMSO Mid-Year Meeting" (02/22/13)

It's not too late to register for the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) Mid-Year Meeting being held March 5-7, in Washington, DC. This year's meeting will address key EMS and homeland security legislative and regulatory issues; the EMS work force; NASEMSO project updates (model rules for ambulance vehicle design, model interstate compact for personnel licensure, model EMS clinical guidelines, air medical task force, intelligent transportation and traffic incident management developments, and model trauma plan); and the National EMS Education Standards project.


Preliminary Agenda Now Available for 2013 EMSC Program Managers' Meeting (02/21/13)

The preliminary agenda is now available for the 2013 EMS for Children (EMSC) Program Managers' Meeting being held April 29 - May 1, at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel in Bethesda, MD. The theme for this year's meeting is: "Working in Partnership with your Community to Improve the Quality of Pediatric Emergency Care."

Online registration will open on March 11, 2013. Attendees will be responsible for making their own hotel reservation by contacting the hotel directly or by using the hotel's online reservation system. Attendees should not call the Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel until they receive an identification code that is specific to this year's meeting. That code will be released in early March. Additional details about the meeting will be forthcoming.


Mark Your Calendar for the Upcoming Webinar "The Pediatric Readiness Project: Wow, How Did You Get That Response Rate?" (02/15/13)

The EMS for Children National Resource Center will host the National Pediatric Readiness webinar "The Pediatric Readiness Project: Wow, How Did You Get That Response Rate?" from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, February 20. Call-in and web instructions will be sent to you by your HRSA project officer.


The EMSC National Resource Center Welcomes New EMS Program Manager (02/14/13)

The EMS for Children (EMSC) National Resource Center (NRC) is happy to announce the arrival of Anthony 'Tony' Gilchrest who will be assuming the role of EMS program manager. Tony most recently served as the EMSC program manager for Texas and has more than 20 years of experience in fire-based emergency services and EMS education. As the EMS program manager, Tony will be responsible for leading technical assistance to the EMSC state partnership grantees and leveraging relationships with EMS-based national organizations. Tony will also continue his leadership role with the National Pediatric Readiness Project. Tony's official first day is March 4, and we are all very excited to have Tony onboard.


Attention SPROC Grantees: Urgent Matters Announces New Educational Podcast (02/11/13)

Urgent Matters, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, announced the availability of the new educational podcast "Geography as Destiny with Dr. Brendan Carr." The podcast focuses on regionalization in emergency care systems.

This podcast provides a brief overview of accountable care and the conceptual difficulty of accountable care in emergency departments and system healthcare as a result of geography or population-based health care. Additionally, some of the challenges in moving towards accountable regionalized care in the current market are also addressed. State Partnership Regionalization of Care (SPROC) grantees may find this podcast of interest.


Texas EMSC Seeking Program Manager (02/11/13)

The EMS for Children State Partnership in Texas is based at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and is currently accepting applications for its program manager position. Qualified applicants should have a Bachelor's degree level of education and prior experience working in emergency care, pediatric care, public health, or public policy.

The following are desired (yet not required): Experience as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or nurse in an emergency department; Master's level education in Public Administration, Public Health or Public Policy; and experience with grant writing, manuscript preparation, meeting facilitation, project planning, web page design, and using quality improvement methodology in health care. For more information or to apply, please view position 231250 at http://www.medschooljobs.org.


PECARN Publishes on Intra-Abdominal Injury Prediction Rule (02/08/13)

A Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine aimed to derive a prediction rule to identify children with blunt torso trauma who are very low risk for intra-abdominal injury (IAI) undergoing acute intervention. The prediction rule was hypothesized to help identify children with blunt torso trauma who may not require abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans. The prediction rule consisted of the following seven variables (patient history and physical examination findings), in descending order of importance: evidence of abdominal wall trauma or seat belt sign, Glasgow Coma Scale score less than 14, abdominal tenderness, evidence of thoracic wall trauma, complaints of abdominal pain, decreased breath sounds, and vomiting.

Eligible participants included children with blunt torso trauma evaluated in the emergency department (ED) at any of the 20 participating PECARN centers from May 2007 to January 2010. Of the 14,882 eligible patients, 12,044 were enrolled. Abdominal CT scans were obtained for 5,514 patients. In total, 761 children were diagnosed with IAI and of those 203 received acute interventions. 5,034 patients were at a very low risk for IAI underdoing acute intervention as identified by the absence of any prediction rule variables, and 1,254 (25%) of these patients nevertheless underwent abdominal CT scanning. This represents 23% of all the CT's performed on the patients. This suggests there is substantial potential for reducing unnecessary abdominal CT scanning in children after blunt torso trauma due to the fact that the prediction rule identifies low-risk children in whom CT would generally be obviated. The rule is not intended to suggest that all those who screen positive for one or more variable must undergo abdominal CT scanning.


EMSC NRC Seeking Program Coordinator (02/07/13)

The EMS for Children (EMSC) National Resource Center (NRC) is looking for an energetic, detail-oriented individual with excellent analytical, writing, and verbal communication skills to serve as its program coordinator. This individual will be part of a team that provides technical assistance to research and state grantees and develops EMSC- related educational resources and trainings. The program coordinator will serve as the staff liaison with internal and external stakeholders, as well as work with program staff to assure that EMSC requirements are incorporated within the program design. The ideal candidate must be organized, resourceful, and self-motivated with the ability to interact effectively with multi-disciplinary team members.


2013 Alaska State EMS Symposium: Call for Speakers (01/25/13)

The Alaska State EMS Office and Southern Region EMS Council will hold its 38th Annual State EMS Symposium on November 6-9, 2013, in Anchorage, AK. The State EMS Office cordially invites speakers who are interested in presenting on pediatrics, injury prevention, data collection, trauma, and medical mass casualty. Presentations should be submitted to Carin Marter, Alaska EMS training and certification manager, by January 29.


Targeted Issue Grantee Publishes on Disaster Triage Scoring in Connecticut (01/24/13)

EMSC Targeted Issue (TI) Grantee Mark Cicero, MD, at Yale University School of Medicine published findings from his TI project “Small Victims, Big Challenges: Refining Pediatric Disaster Triage Algorithms and Education in the Prehospital Setting” in Academic Pediatrics.

The aim of this study was to design, validate, and test the inter-rater reliability of a checklist-based evaluation scoring instrument for use in evaluating pediatric residents’ pediatric disaster triage (PDT) performance. The inter-rater reliability was assessed with the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Reliability analyses were conducted for: (1) the learners’ triage accuracy for each of the 10 patients involved in a school bus crash simulation; (2) learners’ triage skills; (3) learners’ triage knowledge, determined by application of the JumpSTART triage algorithm decision of the patients’ triage levels; and (4) each item included in the global assessment.

The study included 37 learners and 111 observations of resident triage. Results indicated there was no difference among resident scores by postgraduate year (PGY), establishing internal validity. Individual patient score reliability was high among patients with head injury (ICC 0.86) and low for an ambulatory patient (ICC 0.29). Triage skills evaluation showed excellent reliability, including airway management (ICC 0.91) and triage speed (ICC 0.81). The global assessment evaluations had moderate reliability for skills (ICC 0.63) and knowledge (ICC 0.64).

The study concluded the scoring instrument has both construct and internal validity, measuring PDT performance, not experience as defined by PGY. The instrument is reliable, with high correlation of evaluator scores for most patients, discrete triage skills, assignment of triage levels, and the global assessment.


Bringing Pediatric Emergency Training to Rural Minnesota (01/14/13)

The Minnesota EMS for Children program successfully completed the first offerings of its pediatric trauma training curriculum with a special focus on rural settings. The curriculum featured training for both prehospital and emergency department nurses with an overall goal to strengthen communication and relationships across the two settings. Participants completed four hands-on, simulation-based scenarios designed to increase skill and ultimately confidence in treating pediatric patients.

Overall, 240 prehospital and hospital-based providers attended the simulation trainings. Minnesota hopes to provide more training sessions in the future.


PECARN Study Featured in Journal Watch's Emergency Medicine's Top 10 Stories for 2012 (01/11/13)

The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) has been featured in Journal Watch's Emergency Medicine Top 10 Stories for 2012 list. The list features two articles utilizing PECARN study data: "Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury and Radiation Risks: A Clinical Decision Analysis" and "Implementation of Adapted PECARN Decision Rule for Children with Minor Head Injury in the Pediatric Emergency Department." Congratulations PECARN!


NRC Releases EMSC TI Database (01/10/13)

The EMS for Children (EMSC) National Resource Center (NRC) has released the EMSC Targeted Issue Database. The searchable database houses information for all Targeted Issue grants dating back to 1991 when the Health Resources and Services Administration's EMSC Program first funded Targeted Issue grants to states and accredited schools of medicine.

The new database coincides with the release of the new Targeted Issue Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Prospective Targeted Issue grantees are encouraged to access the database to review all previous Targeted Issue projects and, when possible, build upon prior grantees' work to increase the depth and breadth of pediatric emergency care.


Targeted Issue FOA Released; Applications Due April 9
TA Conference Call Scheduled for January 24; Letter of Intent Due February 7, 2013 (01/10/13)

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has released the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Targeted Issue Demonstration Project.

The current FOA solicits two categories of applications. The purpose of both categories is to improve pre-hospital pediatric research. The full FOA is attached to this announcement.

  • Category I: Building on the success of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies must demonstrate that they can successfully build an infrastructure to conduct pediatric research. Category I applicants will demonstrate the ability of EMS systems to conduct pediatric pre-hospital research by establishing an EMS Research Node Center (E-RNC) for PECARN. Current participation in PECARN is NOT required.

  • Category II: These grants will include traditional investigator-initiated ideas focused on promoting research and quality improvements in pediatric emergency care. The FOA provides specific priority areas within pre-hospital pediatric care that have been identified as gaps in peer-reviewed literature and through national consensus groups.

An estimated seven awards ranging up to $300,000 per year for up to three years is available.

The EMSC National Resource Center has also released an EMSC Targeted Issue Database. Prospective Targeted Issue grantees are encouraged to access the database to review all previous Targeted Issue projects and, when possible, build upon prior grantees' work to increase the depth and breadth of pediatric emergency care.

The federal agency contact for the Targeted Issue Grant announcement is Tasmeen Weik, DrPH, Director of Research for the EMSC Program. At 1:00 pm on Thursday, January 24, Dr. Weik will host a technical assistance conference call to discuss the grant program and application process. To participate, dial 1-866-823-9065 and enter the code 1346468. The following meeting weblink will be used to display the FOA: https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/emsc/.

For more information about the grant opportunity, go to Grants.gov, click on "Find Grant Opportunities" then "Basic Search." Under "Search by CFDA Number" enter 93.127. The application instructions and applications package is also available for download.