Targeted Issue Grantee Updates


Through the competitive Targeted Issue (TI) grant mechanism, the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program funds schools of medicines to find new approaches to providing the best possible emergency care for children across the nation. Typically, the projects result in a new product or resource or demonstrate the effectiveness of a model system component or service of value.

In fiscal year (FY) 2010, the Program awarded nine new TI grants and four TI grantees received continuation funding. Periodical progress updates on the activities of each TI grantee are now being developed and will be posted here as they become available.


New TI Grants for FY 2010

  • CALIFORNIA – UC Davis School of Medicine. Utility of Abdominal Ultrasound during Emergency Department Evaluation of Children with Blunt Trauma (Primary Investigator: James Holmes, MD, MPH).

  • CONNECTICUT – Yale University. Small Victims, Big Challenges: Refining Pediatric Disaster Triage Algorithms and Education in the Prehospital Setting (Primary Investigator: Mark Cicero, MD).

  • DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – Children’s National Medical Center. Reducing Errors in Pediatric Trauma Resuscitation Using a Checklist (Primary Investigator: Randall Burd, MD, PhD).

  • ILLINOIS – Loyola University, School of Medicine. Pediatric Quality Improvement Modules: Head Trauma, Seizures, and Diabetic Ketoacidosis (Primary Co-investigators: Mark Cichon, MD, and Evelyn Lyons, RN, MPH).

  • MASSACHUSETTS – Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.* ExSTRA: Evidence-Based Screening for Siblings and Contacts of Abused Children (Primary Investigator: Daniel Lindberg, MD).

  • MICHIGAN – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.* Progesterone for Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: Planning a Safety and Efficacy Trial (Primary Investigator: Rachel Stanley, MD).

  • NORTH CAROLINA – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. EMS and Pediatric Trauma: A North Carolina Population-based Performance Improvement Intervention and Evaluation Using Multiple-linked Healthcare Databases (Primary Investigator: Jane Brice, MD).

  • NORTH CAROLINA – Wake Forest University. Evaluation of a Pediatric Emergency Care Recognition Program on Care of Injured Children (Primary Investigator: J. Wayne Meredith, MD).

  • TEXAS – Texas Children’s Hospital. Integrating Evidence-Based Pediatric Prehospital Protocols into Practice (Primary Investigator: Manish Shah, MD).

Continuation TI Grants for FY 2010


Continuation TI Grants for FY 2010 (No-Cost Extension)

  • ARKANSAS - Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute. Development and Evaluation of Targeted ATV Safety Educational Strategies for Rural Children (Principal Investigator: Mary Aitken, MD)

  • CALIFORNIA - Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor, UCLA. Evaluation of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle as an Assessment Tool for Children in the Prehospital Setting (Principal Investigator: Mary Ann Gausche-Hill, MD)

  • ILLINOIS - Loyola University Medical School. Pediatric Quality Improvement Modules: Head Trauma, Seizures and DKA (Principal Investigator: Mark Cichon, MD)

  • OHIO – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Defining Quality Performance Measures for Pediatric Emergency Care (Principal Investigator: Evaline Alessandrini, MD, MSCE).

  • OHIO - Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Diagnostic Signatures in Febrile Infants (Principal Investigator: Octavio Ramilo, MD)

  • TEXAS - University of Texas Southwestern. Pediatric Pain Management Program for the EMT-P (Principal Investigator: Halim Hennes, MD, MS)

  • TEXAS - Baylor College of Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Department. Use of an Asthma Educational Intervention to Improve Quality of Care (Principal Investigator: Charles Macias, MD)

  • WASHINGTON, DC - Children’s National Medical Center, Children’s Research Institute. Family Presence During Pediatric Trauma Team Activation: Measuring the Effects of a Multidisciplinary Approach to Patient-Family-Centered-Care. (Principal Investigator: Karen O’Connell, MD)

  • WASHINGTON - University of Washington. Enhancing Coordination Between EMS Systems and Primary Care for Injured Adolescents with Alcohol Problems and PTSD (Principal Investigator: Douglas Zatzick, MD)