UMEM Educational Pearls

 

General Information:

An estimated 70 children in the world die every 5 minutes-- 99% of these deaths are from developing countries, half in Sub-Saharan Africa , and two-thirds from preventable or easily treatable causes.

Area of the world affected:

One study examining the quality of hospital emergency care of 131 children in 21 hospitals in 7 developing countries found:

·       66% of hospitals did not have adequate triage; 41% of patients had inadequate initial assessment;

·       44% received inappropriate treatment and 30% had insuf cient monitoring.

·       Frequent essential drugs, laboratory and radiology services supply outages

·       Staffing and knowledge shortages for medical and nursing personnel

 

Relevance to the US physician:

The International Federation of Emergency Medicine (IFEM) used a consensus approach to develop the International Standards for Emergency Care of Children in Emergency Departments, published in July 2012.

·       The standards covering initial assessment, stabilization and treatment, staf ng and training

·       Guidelines for coordinating, monitoring and improving the pediatric emergency care are addressed

 

Bottom Line:

The IFEM International Standards for Emergency Care of Children provide an excellent resource for both clinicians and hospital managers in developing countries.

University of Maryland Section of Global Emergency Health

Author:Terrence Mulligan DO, MPH,FIFEM, FACEP, FAAEM, FACOEP, FNVSHA

--thanks and acknowledgments to Baljit Cheema, University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, South Africa

References

 

Lozano R, Wang H, Foreman KJ, Rajaratnam JK, Naghavi M, Marcus JR, et al. Progress towards Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on maternal and child mortality: an updated systematic analysis. Lancet 2011;378(9797):1139–65.

[1] You D, Jones G, Hill K, Wardlaw T, Chopra M. Levels and trends in child mortality, 1990-2009. Lancet 2010;376(9745):931–3.

[1] Cheema B. International standards of care for children in emergency centres – do they apply to Africa? African Journal of Emergency Medicine (2013) 3, 50–51

[1] Nolan T, Angos P, Cunha AJ, Muhe L, Qazi S, Simoes EA, Tamburlini G, Weber M, Pierce NF. Quality of hospital care for seriously ill children in less-developed countries. Lancet 2001 Jan 13;357(9250):106–10.

[1] International Standards for Emergency Care of Children in Emergency Departments. Full Document Available from: http://www.ifem.cc/Resources/PoliciesandGuidelines.aspx