Pediatric Resources

A comprehensive EMS system is ready every day for every kind of emergency. Almost every EMS system provides emergency care for children.

Infants, children, and teens who need emergency medical care require specialized pediatric knowledge, skills and equipment. 

Since EMS clinicians care for children and adolescents less frequently than adults, providing pediatric emergency treatment can be stressful. This anxiety can be managed with education and training that provides and reinforces pediatric knowledge and skills.

Learn More about Pediatric EMS

Safe Transport of Children in Ambulances

• Working Group Best Practice Recommendations for the Safe Transportation of Children in Emergency Ground Ambulances

• The Do’s and Don'ts of Transporting Children in an Ambulance

• Recommended Essential Equipment for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Ground Ambulances 2020: A Joint Position Statement 

• EIIC: Safe Transportation of Children in Ground Ambulances

• NASEMSO: Safe Transport of Children

HHS/HRSA EMS for Children Branch

Since 1984, the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Branch, housed within the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has worked to ensure that no matter where a child lives, goes to school or travels, healthcare systems are ready to provide quality pediatric emergency care.

The active partnership of OEMS and the EMSC Branch has provided the EMS community with a combination of research, partnership and practice. EMSC funds research that is then applied, developing evidence-based protocols and resources for clinicians in EMS and the Emergency Department (ED).

EMSC Branch Programs & Partnerships

The federal project officers within the HRSA EMSC Branch oversee and manage the activities of its five major components:

EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC)

Optimizing outcomes for children across the emergency care continuum by leveraging quality improvement (QI) science and multidisciplinary, multisystem collaboration is the focus of the EIIC. To achieve this, they conduct and share QI science and resources in seven focus areas: hospital-based care, prehospital-based care, disaster preparedness, trauma, quality improvement collaboratives, advocacy, knowledge management and research.

EMSC Data Center

The center has a three-fold mission: supporting research conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN); enhancing and collecting performance-measure data to expand and improve EMSC in states and jurisdictions; and collaborating with national partners to support data-collection efforts to assess the expansion of prehospital and hospital pediatric readiness initiatives. 

Pediatric Emergency Care Research Network (PECARN)

Conducting meaningful, rigorous multi-institutional research requires leadership and infrastructure. Focusing its work on the prevention and management of acute illness and injury in children and youth, PECARN collaborates with diverse populations across the U.S. to enhance the treatment of children in all phases of emergency care.

EMSC Targeted Issues Grant Program

As in every field of healthcare, gaps exist in pediatric emergency care. This program funds projects to demonstrate the direct connection between improving readiness and improving clinical care and outcomes for children, both before they get to the hospital and after they arrive at the ED.

EMSC State Partnership Grant Program

Since 1997, the program has provided funding in support of demonstration projects that help states improve, refine and integrate pediatric care into their emergency medical care system and improve emergency care for children being treated for trauma or a critical illness.