ER’s Not Ready For Children?
By Dr. Kenneth Rothaus – April 29th, 2015
There was an article by Laura Landro this week in the Wall Street Journal on the availability of pediatric care in hospital emergency rooms. It was interesting (and more than a little disconcerting) to learn that of the 30 million children treated in hospital emergency rooms each year, only 10 % – or 3 million of them – receive that care in hospitals which have a pediatric unit.
On the positive side the article points out that the hospitals and states are aware of this problem and are making strides to correct any deficiencies. For example, a report form JAMA quoted in this article notes that the median readiness score for a pediatric emergency in the 4000 hospitals surveyed was up 25 % in the last decade.
The author gives two good recommendations for parents to follow:
- Ask your pediatrician which hospital in your area is the best at treating pediatric emergencies
- If your child does end up in the emergency room or a hospital, make sure that their weight is recorded as kilograms and not pounds. Most recommended medication dosages are given as per kilogram (not pound). There are 2.2 pounds in 1 kilogram. If your child’s weight was listed in pounds and the dosage given for a medication is based on per kilogram guidelines, your child would be given an overdosage.
If you have had an experience in a pediatric emergency room which points out other concerns a parent should have, please let us know so that we can share with our followers.
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