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Objectives Three decades ago, in North America, pediatric emergency medicine was an evolving subspecialty of pediatrics, contributing in valuable and life-saving ways to the care of children. Currently, in LMICs (low middle-income countries) pediatric programs are expanding training and education in the subspecialty of pediatric emergency medicine. We aim to determine if care provided by a single institution with dedicated pediatric emergency resources and personnel in Kenya can change mortality rates in children with similar mRISC scores suffering from respiratory illness, as compared to previously published data from the same region of Eastern Africa. As mRISC is used at the time of a child's admission to the hospital to describe the severity of their respiratory illness, we will compare mortality rates by mRISC score to compare groups of patients with similar severities of illness between hospitals. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed using written medical records of pediatric patients 30 days to 5 years of age admitted to AIC Kijabe Hospital, Kenya from 2014 to 2018 for respiratory illness. Of 2692 possible admissions identified in the hospital's pediatric database, 377 admissions were included. 34 data points were recorded for each patient admission including demographic information, information involved in calculating the mRISC score, and additional respiratory information. The primary outcomes were mRISC score and mortality. Results 20 (5%) of included patients represented in-hospital mortalities. Across all mRISC scores, our mortality remained much lower than previously reported in the literature in Kenya. Conclusions Our study does support a positive correlation between pediatric emergency medicine training and skills and decreased childhood mortality; however, correlation does not prove causation. How this decrease in mortality was accomplished was likely a combination of many smaller efforts at quality improvement that add up and make a difference as pediatricians are known to be child advocates., African relevance • Investment in pediatric emergency medicine trained providers affects pediatric mortality • Additional training programs for pediatric emergency medicine are needed • Pediatric Emergency Trained Providers can be effective advocates for clinical care pathway changes with limited resources.

Background A pediatric emergency medicine and critical care fellowship was recently developed in Kenya through the University of Nairobi/Kenyatta National Hospital and AIC Kijabe Hospital. As part of this training, a week-long trauma and emergency medicine course was developed with emphasis on trauma and emergency medicine procedures. Given limited resources, we developed a course with simulation of procedures centered around utilization of a goat cadaver. Objective The aim of the study was to describe fellow and faculty experiences and perspectives when using a goat cadaver to teach emergency medicine procedures by simulation in Kijabe, Kenya. Methods A 5-day course was given to 2 fellows with a variety of didactics and simulations after which fellows completed a questionnaire to rate their satisfaction with the content and teaching effectiveness. Results The course was rated very highly, with an average content satisfaction score of 4.5 5 and average teaching effectiveness score of 4.4 of 5. Qualitative faculty feedback was positive, with specific learnings allowing ongoing adaptation of this model. Conclusions A goat cadaver is a cost-effective resource not often considered that can be adequately used to teach several emergency medicine skills by simulation.

General pediatricians have been involved for decades in bringing health to the world’s children with preventive and public health interventions. Building on this, this article seeks to explore the necessary concepts and components that would facilitate a rapid response for critically ill or injured pediatric patients to become a life-saving reality for all children. It has been shown that emergency care can be done practically, cost-effectively, and is necessary to save the lives of children who will, just like children in the USA, suffer from critical illness and injury as a matter of living. There is a challenge to the pediatric emergency medicine community to facilitate the training and delivery of rapid pediatric response worldwide, with the recognition that emergency care is a specialty of rapid team formation to identify critically ill children, and rapid action to resuscitate them.

We recognize the possibility of a needle stick can be an overwhelming fear for a child. We seek to review the needle-less options available to medical personnel for the treatment of pain and anxiety in children. We found that many new needle-less options exist for the treatment of pain and anxiety. Pharmacological measures, beyond the oral and enteral routes of medication administration, include intra-nasal and topical routes. Non-pharmacological treatments, including distraction techniques and oral sucrose for infants, are increasingly being recognized as viable treatments as the scientific community begins to study the effects these interventions can have on pediatric pain. There are many options to treat pediatric pain and anxiety that do not involve the use of a needle. Using needle-less methods of treatment helps pediatric care providers send a message of partnership with children and families.

Background Emergency providers often attribute stridor to croup in pediatric patients. However, even in children who are having other symptoms of a viral etiology, several other causes need to be considered. Case A 6-month-old term male without significant past medical history presented to the emergency department with stridor with likely underlying laryngospasm. He was initially ascribed the diagnosis of croup and was discharged home after receiving steroids and racemic epinephrine. However, he returned hours later after a seizure event at home. A thorough evaluation revealed an ionized calcium of 0.49 mmol/L, and further history revealed the patient was being fed a coconut water-based homemade solution for several months. He was subsequently found to have rickets and delay in milestone achievement. Awareness of hypocalcemia as a possible cause of laryngospasm is important because of the potential life-threatening effects of critically low calcium. Hypocalcemia should be included in the differential diagnosis of any child who presents with stridor, especially if lacking other symptoms of a viral illness.

BACKGROUND: Hypotension after trauma is most commonly assumed to be hemorrhagic, or hypovolemic, in origin. However, hypotension may occur in pediatric patients with isolated head injury, challenging accepted tenets of trauma care. We sought to quantify the contribution of head injury to the development of hypotension after pediatric trauma. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort analysis using the National Trauma Data Bank registry 2009. Children aged 0 to 15 years were classified by injury pattern sustained during trauma using discharge diagnosis International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes into isolated head, hemorrhagic, spinal cord, or other injury type. The primary outcome was hypotension for age at arrival to the emergency department. Risk of hypotension was estimated and compared by injury pattern using absolute and relative risks (RRs) stratified by age group (0-4 years, 5-11 years, 12-15 years). RESULTS: Rates of hypotension ranged from 1.8% to 2.3% by age, with the highest incidence in the 12- to 15-year group. The RR of hypotension from isolated head injury (RR, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-3.2 vs. other) was not significantly different from the RR for hemorrhagic injury (RR, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 2.1-3.5 vs. other) in the 0- to 4-year-old group. For the older age groups, the RR of hypotension from isolated head injury was significantly lower than from hemorrhagic injury. CONCLUSION: Hypotension occurs after isolated head injury in children, and the risk of hypotension is as great as hemorrhagic injuries in children aged 0 to 4 years. This finding should now lead us to confirm whether a cause-effect relationship exists and, if so, isolate the responsible mechanism. In turn, this could reveal an opportunity to tailor treatments to address the underlying mechanism for hypotension in these children. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and epidemiologic study, level III. Language: en

Anecdotally accepted practice for evaluation of children with clinically suspected or radiographically proven wrist fracture in many urgent care and primary care settings is concurrent imaging of the forearm and elbow, despite the lack of evidence to support additional images. These additional radiographs may be an unnecessary source of radiation and use of health care resources. Our study assesses the necessity of additional radiographs of the forearm and elbow in children with wrist injury. We reviewed electronic medical records of children 17 and younger in whom wrist fracture was diagnosed in the emergency department. We identified the frequency with which additional radiographs of the proximal forearm and distal humerus demonstrated another site of acute injury. We identified 214 children with wrist fracture. Of those, 129 received additional radiographs of the elbow. Physical examination findings proximal to the wrist were documented in only 16 (12%) of these 129 children. A second injury proximal to the wrist fracture was present in 4 (3%) of these 129 children, all of whom exhibited physical examination findings at the elbow. No fractures were documented in children with a negative physical examination of the elbow. Although elbow fractures occasionally complicate distal forearm fractures in children, our findings indicate that a careful physical evaluation of the elbow is sufficient to guide further radiographic investigation. Routine radiographs of both the wrist and elbow in children with distal forearm fracture appear to be unnecessary when an appropriate physical examination is performed.

Objective Burnout is a syndrome in which a reduced sense of personal accomplishment, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion develop in response to prolonged stress. It is well known that physicians suffer high rates of burnout; emergency medicine physicians experience significantly increased rates of burnout, whereas physicians in other specialties, like pediatrics, may be spared. Pediatric emergency medicine physicians are on the frontline of care for the critically ill child, which could put them at high risk for burnout. This study evaluates the rate of burnout in pediatric emergency medicine physicians. Methods We conducted a survey assessing burnout using a sample of pediatric emergency medicine physicians who subscribe to an open Listserv server maintained by Brown University. Burnout was measured using a validated instrument, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey, which was distributed by e-mail to the study group. Results Respondents averaged a score of 9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 8-10), 23 (95% CI, 21-25), and 39 (95% CI, 38-40) in the subscales of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment, respectively. This placed our cohort into the average range for all subscales. The percentage of respondents who scored in the high levels of burnout (moderate to high scores in both depersonalization and emotional exhaustion and low to moderate scores in personal accomplishment) was 25% (95% CI, 18-32). Conclusions Unlike previous literature showing burnout prevalence in excess of 60% in emergency medicine physicians and 38% in pediatricians, our pediatric emergency medicine physicians fared better with only 25% (95% CI, 18-32), showing elevated levels of burnout.

OBJECTIVE: Conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) such as the TASER are often used by law enforcement (LE) personnel during suspect apprehension. Previous studies have reported an excellent safety profile and few adverse outcomes with CEW use in adults. We analyzed the safety and injury profile of CEWs when used during LE apprehension of children and adolescents, a potentially vulnerable population. METHODS: Consecutive CEW uses by LE officers against criminal suspects were tracked at 10 LE agencies and entered into a database as part of an ongoing multicenter injury surveillance program. All CEW uses against minors younger than 18 years were retrieved for analysis. Primary outcomes included the incidence and type of mild, moderate, and severe CEW-related injury, as assessed by physician reviewers in each case. Ultimate outcomes, suspect demographics, and circumstances surrounding LE involvement are reported secondarily. RESULTS: Of 2026 consecutive CEW uses, 100 (4.9%) were uses against minor suspects. Suspects ranged from 13 to 17 years, with a mean age of 16.1 (SD, 0.99) years (median, 16 years). There were no significant (moderate or severe) injuries reported (0%; 97.5% confidence interval, 0.0%-3.6%). Twenty suspects (20%; 95% confidence interval, 12.7%-29.1%) were noted to sustain 34 mild injuries. The majority of these injuries (67.6%) were expected superficial punctures from CEW probes. Other mild injuries included superficial abrasions and contusions in 7 cases (7%). CONCLUSIONS: None of the minor suspects studied sustained significant injury, and only 20% reported minor injuries, mostly from the expected probe puncture sites. These data suggest that adolescents are not at a substantially higher risk than adults for serious injuries after CEW use. Language: en

INTRODUCTION: Despite research demonstrating the overall safety of Conducted Electrical Weapons (CEWs), commonly known by the brand name TASER(®), concerns remain regarding cardiac safety. The addition of cardiac biomonitoring capability to a CEW could prove useful and even lifesaving in the rare event of a medical crisis by detecting and analyzing cardiac rhythms during the period immediately after CEW discharge. OBJECTIVE: To combine an electrocardiogram (ECG) device with a CEW to detect and store ECG signals while still allowing the CEW to perform its primary function of delivering an incapacitating electrical discharge. METHODS: This work was performed in three phases. In Phase 1 standard law enforcement issue CEW cartridges were modified to demonstrate transmission of ECG signals. In Phase 2, a miniaturized ECG recorder was combined with a standard issue CEW and tested. In Phase 3, a prototype CEW with on-board cardiac biomonitoring was tested on human volunteers to assess its ability to perform its primary function of electrical incapacitation. RESULTS: Bench testing demonstrated that slightly modified CEW cartridge wires transmitted simulated ECG signals produced by an ECG rhythm generator and from a human volunteer. Ultimately, a modified CEW incorporating ECG monitoring successfully delivered incapacitating current to human volunteers and successfully recorded ECG signals from subcutaneous CEW probes after firing. CONCLUSION: An ECG recording device was successfully incorporated into a standard issue CEW without impeding the functioning of the device. This serves as proof-of-concept that safety measures such as cardiac biomonitoring can be incorporated into CEWs and possibly other law enforcement devices.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved. Language: en

OBJECTIVES: Current trauma resuscitation protocols from the American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma, recommend intravascular volume expansion to treat shock after major trauma, assuming that hemorrhage is present. However, this assumption may not be correct. The purpose of this study was to identify the proportion of children with severe shock after trauma presenting with isolated head injury versus hemorrhagic injury. METHODS: A retrospective review of all pediatric trauma patients (aged 0-15 years) was conducted over a 5-year period. Severe shock was defined as the presence of both an elevated blood lactate level and low blood pressure for age. Traumatic injuries were classified as hemorrhagic injuries, head injuries, combined hemorrhagic and head injuries, or other injuries, by analyzing International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnostic codes. RESULTS: A total of 31 (5%) of 680 pediatric trauma patients presented with severe shock. Among these 31 pediatric trauma patients, 9 (29%) had isolated head injury. Isolated head injury among children with shock was most frequently observed among children younger than 5 years (50%), and a decreased trend was noted with increasing age (23% for children 5-11 years and 0% for children 12-15 years [P = 0.03, Cochran-Armitage exact trend test]). CONCLUSIONS: Isolated head injury was observed in 29% of children 0 to 15 years of age with severe shock after trauma and in 50% of children younger than 5 years. Head injury is an important cause of severe shock in pediatric trauma, particularly among young children. Language: en