Mapping Glasgow Coma scale to AVPU scores among adults in the prehospital setting.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a translation between the Glasgow Come Scale and the Alert-Verbal-Pain-Unresponsive (AVPU) scale among adults with out-of-hospital emergencies. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of adults (≥18 years) from the 2022 National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Information System with a ground scene encounter with a concurrently documented GCS and AVPU assessment. Using a training partition of 2.5 million encounters, we performed a grid search to identify all combinations of mutually exclusive cutpoints which divided the GCS into four segments. We identified the combination with the highest Kappa statistic and reported metrics of performance in this sample in the test partition. RESULTS: We identified 16,321,299 encounters with a concurrent AVPU and GCS. Using the AVPU scale, 93.3 % were classified as Alert; 2.9 % as Verbal; 1.5 % as Pain; and 2.3 % as Unresponsive. Using a grid-based search, optimal cutpoints were identified when using a GCS of 14-15 for Alert, 10-13 for Verbal, 7-9 for Pain, and 3-6 for Unresponsive. Cohen's Kappa was 0.63 in the test partition, indicating substantial agreement. Intraclass F1 score varied across different alertness levels and were 0.97 for "Alert", 0.43 for "Verbal", 0.49 for "Pain", and 0.83 for "Unresponsive". Findings were similar in analyses performed by age group and by the presence or absence of trauma. CONCLUSION: We report an optimal crosswalk between the AVPU and GCS scales. Performance in the Verbal and Pain categories was lower than the Alert and Unresponsive categories. These findings may facilitate clinician handovers between EMS and non-EMS clinicians.

Management of Patients With Cardiac Arrest Requiring Interfacility Transport: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

People who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest often require care at a regional center for continued treatment after resuscitation, but many do not initially present to the hospital where they will be admitted. For patients who require interfacility transport after cardiac arrest, the decision to transfer between centers is complex and often based on individual clinical characteristics, resources at the presenting hospital, and available transport resources. Once the decision has been made to transfer a patient after cardiac arrest, there is little direct guidance on how best to provide interfacility transport. Accepting centers depend on transferring emergency departments and emergency medical services professionals to make important and nuanced decisions about postresuscitation care that may determine the efficacy of future treatments. The consequences of early care are greater when transport delays occur, which is common in rural areas or due to inclement weather. Challenges of providing interfacility transfer services for patients who have experienced cardiac arrest include varying expertise of clinicians, differing resources available to them, and nonstandardized communication between transferring and receiving centers. Although many aspects of care are insufficiently studied to determine implications for specific out-of-hospital treatment on outcomes, a general approach of maintaining otherwise recommended postresuscitation care during interfacility transfer is reasonable. This includes close attention to airway, vascular access, ventilator management, sedation, cardiopulmonary monitoring, antiarrhythmic treatments, blood pressure control, temperature control, and metabolic management. Patient stability for transfer, equity and inclusion, and communication also must be considered. Many of these aspects can be delivered by protocol-driven care.

Emergency Department Use by Youths Before and After Self-Inflicted Intentional Injury.

This cohort study describes the rate of emergency department (ED) encounters, reasons for these visits, and characteristics of the children and adolescents who seek this care.

Factors Associated With Potentially Unnecessary Transfers for Children With Asthma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to identify the hospital- and community-related factors associated with the hospital-level rate of potentially unnecessary interfacility transfers (IFTs) for pediatric patients with asthma exacerbations. METHODS: We analyzed California Emergency Department (ED) data from 2016 to 2019 to capture ED visits where a pediatric patient (age, 2-17 years) presented with an asthma exacerbation and was transferred to another ED or acute care hospital. The primary outcome was hospital-level rate of potentially unnecessary IFTs, defined as a visit where length of stay after transfer was <24 hours and no advanced services (eg, critical care) were used. Hospital- and community-related characteristics included urbanicity, teaching hospital status, availability of pediatric resources in the sending facility and patient's community, pediatric patient volume, and Social Vulnerability Index. We described and compared hospitals in the top quartile of potentially unnecessary IFT rate versus all others and used a multivariable modified Poisson model to identify factors associated with potentially unnecessary IFT. RESULTS: A total of 325 sending hospitals were included, with a median 573 pediatric asthma visits (interquartile range, 183-1309) per hospital annually. Nearly half of the hospitals (145/325, 45%) sent a potentially unnecessary IFT. Most (90%) hospitals were urban, 9% were teaching hospitals, 5% had >500 beds, and 22% had a pediatric ED on-site. Factors associated with higher adjusted prevalence of potentially unnecessary IFT included availability of pediatric telehealth (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-2.0), increased pediatric volume (eg, <1800 vs ≥10,000 visits: PR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4-4.7), and higher community Social Vulnerability Index (PR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9). CONCLUSIONS: Several hospital- and community-related factors were associated with potentially unnecessary IFTs among pediatric patients presenting to the ED with asthma exacerbations. These findings provide insight into disparities in potentially unnecessary IFT across communities and can guide the development of future interventions.

Establishing thresholds for shock index in children to identify major trauma.

BACKGROUND: An abnormal shock index (SI) is associated with greater injury severity among children with trauma. We sought to empirically-derive age-adjusted SI cutpoints associated with major trauma in children, and to compare the accuracy of these cutpoints to existing criteria for pediatric SI. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using the 2021 National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) Participant Use File. We included injured children (<18 years), excluding patients with traumatic arrests, mechanical ventilation upon hospital presentation, and inter-facility transfers. Our outcome was major trauma defined by the standardized triage assessment tool (STAT) criteria. Our exposure of interest was the SI. We empirically-derived upper and lower cutpoints for the SI using age-adjusted Z-scores. We compared the performance of these to the SI, pediatric-adjusted (SIPA), and the Pediatric SI (PSI). We validated the performance of the cutpoints in the 2019 NTDB. RESULTS: We included 64,326 and 64,316 children in the derivation and validation samples, of whom 4.9 % (derivation) and 4.0 % (validation) experienced major trauma. The empirically-derived age-adjusted SI cutpoints had a sensitivity of 43.2 % and a specificity of 79.4 % for major trauma in the validation sample. The sensitivity of the PSI for major trauma was 33.9 %, with a specificity of 90.7 % among children 1-17 years of age. The sensitivity of the SIPA was 37.4 %, with a specificity of 87.8 % among children 4-16 years of age. Evaluated using logistic regression, patients with an elevated age-adjusted SI had 3.97 greater odds (95 % confidence interval [CI] 3.63-4.33) of major trauma compared to those with a normal age-adjusted SI. Patients with a depressed SI had 1.55 greater odds (95 % CI 1.36-1.78) of major trauma. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC) for the empirically-derived model (0.62, 95 % CI 0.61-0.63) was similar to the AUROC for PSI (0.62, 95 % CI 0.61-0.63); both of which were greater than the SIPA model (0.58, 95 % CI 0.57-0.59). CONCLUSION: Age-adjusted SI cutpoints demonstrated a mild gain in sensitivity compared to existing measures. However, our findings suggest that the SI alone has a limited role in the identification of major trauma in children.

Prehospital care for traumatic brain injuries: A review of U.S. state emergency medical services protocols.

Traumatic brain injury (TBIs) necessitates a rapid and comprehensive medical response to minimize secondary brain injury and reduce mortality. Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians serve a critical role in the management of prehospital TBI, responding during an initial phase of care with significant impact on patient outcomes. We used versions two and three of the Brain Trauma Foundation (BTF) Prehospital Guidelines for the Management of Traumatic Brain Injury and the NASEMSO National Model Clinical Guidelines to determine key elements for a TBI prehospital protocol and included common factors across sources such as recommendations concerning patient monitoring, hypoxia, hypotension, hyperventilation, cerebral herniation, airway management, hyperosmolar therapy, and transport destination. We then conducted a cross-sectional evaluation of publicly available statewide EMS clinical protocols in the US to determine the degree of alignment with national guidelines. We calculated descriptive statistics for each factor in the state protocols. Despite adoption of some evidence-based recommendations for a standard approach to the prehospital management of patients with TBI, we found significant variability in statewide EMS treatment protocols for management of severe TBI, especially in the recommended frequency of patient reassessment and for the management of suspected herniation. Most statewide protocols provided guidance regarding oxygenation, ventilation, and blood pressure management that aligned with evidence-based guidelines. While most protocols did address management of oxygenation and ventilation, one in four protocols had no specific guidance for managing hypoxia and only 31% of protocols recommended avoiding hyperventilation. For the management of suspected cerebral herniation, over half of statewide protocols recommended hyperventilation, whereas only 31% explicitly advised against hyperventilation regardless of TBI severity. Interestingly, 94% of protocols do not mention the use of hyperosmolar therapy for TBI patients, neither recommending use or avoidance of hyperosmolar therapy. In conclusion, we found inconsistent adoption of national recommendations in available statewide protocols for prehospital TBI management. We identified significant gaps and variation in statewide protocols regarding patient monitoring and reassessment, as well as in several key areas of severe TBI management.

Defining Levels of US Hospitals' Pediatric Capabilities.

Importance: Classifying hospitals across a wide range of pediatric capabilities, including medical, surgical, and specialty services, would improve understanding of access and outcomes. Objective: To develop a classification system for hospitals' pediatric capabilities. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included data from 2019 on all acute care hospitals with emergency departments in 10 US states that treated at least 1 child per day. Statistical analysis was performed from September 2023 to February 2024. Exposure: Pediatric hospital capability level, defined using latent class analysis. The latent class model parameters were the presence or absence of 26 functional capabilities, which ranged from performing laceration repairs to performing organ transplants. A simplified approach to categorization was derived and externally validated by comparing each hospital's latent class model classification with its simplified classification using data from 3 additional states. Main Outcomes and Measures: Health care utilization and structural characteristics, including inpatient beds, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds, and referral rates (proportion of patients transferred among patients unable to be discharged). Results: Using data from 1061 hospitals (716 metropolitan [67.5%]) with a median of 2934 pediatric ED encounters per year (IQR, 1367-5996), the latent class model revealed 4 pediatric levels, with a median confidence of hospital assignment to level of 100% (IQR, 99%-100%). Of 26 functional capabilities, level 1 hospitals had a median of 24 capabilities (IQR, 21-25), level 2 hospitals had a median of 13 (IQR, 11-15), level 3 hospitals had a median of 8 (IQR, 6-9), and level 4 hospitals had a median of 3 (IQR, 2-3). Pediatric level 1 hospitals had a median of 66 inpatient beds (IQR, 42-86), level 2 hospitals had a median of 16 (IQR, 9-22), level 3 hospitals had a median of 0 (IQR, 0-6), and level 4 hospitals had a median of 0 (IQR, 0-0) (P < .001). Level 1 hospitals had a median of 19 PICU beds (IQR, 10-28), level 2 hospitals had a median of 0 (IQR, 0-5), level 3 hospitals had a median of 0 (IQR, 0-0), and level 4 hospitals had a median of 0 (IQR, 0-0) (P < .001). Level 1 hospitals had a median referral rate of 1% (IQR, 1%-3%), level 2 hospitals had a median of 25% (IQR, 9%-45%), level 3 hospitals had a median of 70% (IQR, 52%-84%), and level 4 hospitals had a median of 100% (IQR, 98%-100%) (P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of hospitals from 10 US states, a system to classify hospitals' pediatric capabilities in 4 levels was developed and was associated with structural and health care utilization characteristics. This system can be used to understand and track national pediatric acute care access and outcomes.

Comparing AVPU and Glasgow Coma Scales Among Children Seen by Emergency Medical Services.

OBJECTIVES: Consciousness assessment is an important component in the prehospital care of ill or injured children. Both the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the Alert, Verbal, Pain, Unresponsive (AVPU) scale are used for this purpose. We sought to identify cut points for the GCS to correspond to the AVPU scale for pediatric emergency medical services (EMS) encounters. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis using the 2019-2022 National EMS Information System data set, including children (<18 years) with a GCS and AVPU score. We evaluated several approaches to develop cut points for the GCS within the AVPU scale and reported measures of performance. RESULTS: Of 6 186 663 pediatric encounters, 4 311 598 with both GCS and AVPU documentation were included (median age was 10 years [interquartile range 3-15]; 50.9% boys). Lower AVPU scores correlated with life-sustaining procedures, including those for airway management, seizure, and cardiac arrest. Optimal GCS cut points obtained via a grid-based search were 14 to 15 for alert, 11 to 13 for verbal, 7 to 10 for pain, and 3 to 6 for unresponsive. Overall accuracy was 0.95, with kappa of 0.61. Intraclass F1 statistics were lower for verbal (0.37) and pain (0.50) categories compared with alert (0.98) and unresponsive (0.78). CONCLUSIONS: We developed a cross-walking between the AVPU and GCS scales. Overall performance was high, though performance within the verbal and pain categories was lower. These findings can be useful to enhance clinician handovers and to aid in the development of EMS-based prediction models.

Intravenous Acetaminophen Versus Ketorolac for Prehospital Analgesia: A Retrospective Data Review.

BACKGROUND: Parenteral ketorolac and intravenous (IV) acetaminophen have been used for prehospital analgesia, yet limited data exist on their comparative effectiveness. STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of IV acetaminophen and parenteral ketorolac for analgesia in the prehospital setting. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional evaluation of patients receiving IV acetaminophen or parenteral ketorolac for pain management in a large suburban EMS system between 1/1/2019 and 11/30/2021. The primary outcome was change in first to last pain score. Subgroup analysis was performed on patients with traumatic pain. We used inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate the treatment effect of acetaminophen versus ketorolac among all patients and the subgroup of those with traumatic pain. RESULTS: Of 2178 patients included, 856 (39.3%) received IV acetaminophen and 1322 (60.7%) received parenteral ketorolac. The unadjusted mean change in pain score was -1.9 (SD 2.4) for acetaminophen group and -2.4 (SD 2.4) for ketorolac. In the propensity score analyses, there was no statistically significant difference in pain score change for the acetaminophen group versus ketorolac among all patients (mean difference, IPTW: 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.16, 0.37; PSM: 0.15, 95% CI -0.13, 0.43) and among those with traumatic pain (unadjusted: 0.18, 95% CI -0.35, 0.72; IPTW: 0.23, 95% CI -0.25, 0.71; PSM: -0.03, 95% CI -0.61, 0.54). CONCLUSIONS: We found no statistically significant difference in mean pain reduction of IV acetaminophen and parenteral ketorolac for management of acute pain.

Patient-related Factors Associated with Potentially Unnecessary Transfers for Pediatric Patients with Asthma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background/Objective: Asthma is a common chronic medical condition among children and the most common diagnosis associated with interfacility transports for pediatric patients. As many as 40% of pediatric transfers may be unnecessary, resulting in potential delays in care and unnecessary costs. Our objective was to identify the patient-related factors associated with potentially unnecessary transfers for pediatric patients with asthma. Methods: We used patient care data from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information patient discharge and emergency department (ED) datasets to capture ED visits where a pediatric patient (age 2-17 years) presented with asthma and was transferred to another ED or acute care hospital. The outcome of interest was a potentially unnecessary transfer, defined as a visit where length of stay after transfer was <24 hours and no advanced services were used, such as respiratory therapy or critical care. Patient-related characteristics were extracted, including age, gender, race/ethnicity, primary language, insurance status, and clinical characteristics. First, we used descriptive statistics to compare necessary vs unnecessary transfers. Second, we used generalized estimating equations accounting for clustering by ED to estimate odds ratios (OR) and identify factors associated with potentially unnecessary transfers. Results: A total of 4,233 pediatric ED patients were transferred with a diagnosis of asthma, including 461 (11%) transfers that met criteria as potentially unnecessary. Median age was 12 years (interquartile range 7-15), and 46% were female. Factors associated with increased odds of potentially unnecessary transfer while controlling for key factors included younger age (eg, 2-5 years, OR 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-2.9), male gender (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.7), and Hispanic ethnicity (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.1), while multiple hospitalizations for asthma per year was associated with decreased odds (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.4). Conclusion: Several patient-related factors were associated with increased or decreased odds of potentially unnecessary transfers among pediatric patients presenting to the ED with asthma. These factors can be considered in future work to better understand, predict, and reduce unnecessary transfers and their negative consequences.

"Right now, it's kind of haphazard"-Pediatric emergency care coordinators and quality of emergency care for children: A qualitative study.

Objectives: Pediatric readiness varies widely among emergency departments (EDs). The presence of a pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) has been associated with improved pediatric readiness and decreased mortality, but adoption of PECCs has been limited. Our objective was to understand factors associated with PECC implementation in general EDs. Methods: We conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with a purposively sampled set of EDs with and without PECCs. Interviews were completed, transcribed, and coded until thematic saturation was reached. Themes were identified through a consensus process and mapped to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Results: Twenty-four interviews were conducted and mapped to themes related to innovation, individuals and implementation process, outer setting (health system), and inner setting (hospital/ED). Addressing innovation, individuals, and implementation process, the primary theme was variability in how the PECC role was defined and who was responsible for implementing it. Regarding the outer setting, participants reported that limited system resources affected their ability to implement the PECC role. Key inner setting themes included concerns about limited visit volume, a lack of systems for measuring pediatric quality of care, and significant tension around change. Conclusions: Implementation of the PECC role appears to be limited by heterogeneous interpretations of the PECC, de-prioritization of pediatrics, and limited system resources. However, many participants described motivation to improve pediatric care and implement the PECC role in context of increasing pediatric visits; they offered strategies for future implementation efforts.

Fewer emergency department alarms is associated with reduced use of medications for acute agitation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patient monitoring systems provide critical information but often produce loud, frequent alarms that worsen patient agitation and stress. This may increase the use of physical and chemical restraints with implications for patient morbidity and autonomy. This study analyzes how augmenting alarm thresholds affects the proportion of alarm-free time and the frequency of medications administered to treat acute agitation. METHODS: Our emergency department's patient monitoring system was modified on June 28, 2022 to increase the tachycardia alarm threshold from 130 to 150 and to remove alarm sounds for several arrhythmias, including bigeminy and premature ventricular beats. A pre-post study was performed lasting 55 days before and 55 days after this intervention. The primary outcome was change in number of daily patient alarms. The secondary outcomes were alarm-free time per day and median number of antipsychotic and benzodiazepine medications administered per day. The safety outcome was the median number of patients transferred daily to the resuscitation area. We used quantile regression to compare outcomes between the pre- and post-intervention period and linear regression to correlate alarm-free time with the number of sedating medications administered. RESULTS: Between the pre- and post-intervention period, the median number of alarms per day decreased from 1332 to 845 (-37%). This was primarily driven by reduced low-priority arrhythmia alarms from 262 to 21 (-92%), while the median daily census was unchanged (33 vs 32). Median hours per day free from alarms increased from 1.0 to 2.4 (difference 1.4, 95% CI 0.8-2.1). The median number of sedating medications administered per day decreased from 14 to 10 (difference - 4, 95% CI -1 to -7) while the number of escalations in level of care to our resuscitation care area did not change significantly. Multivariable linear regression showed a 60-min increase of alarm-free time per day was associated with 0.8 (95% CI 0.1-1.4) fewer administrations of sedating medication while an additional patient on the behavioral health census was associated with 0.5 (95% CI 0.0-1.1) more administrations of sedating medication. CONCLUSION: A reasonable change in alarm parameter settings may increase the time patients and healthcare workers spend in the emergency department without alarm noise, which in this study was associated with fewer doses of sedating medications administered.

Centiles for the shock index among injured children in the prehospital setting.

OBJECTIVE: The shock index (SI), the ratio of heart rate to systolic blood pressure, is a clinical tool for assessing injury severity. Age-adjusted SI models may improve predictive value for injured children in the out-of-hospital setting. We sought to characterize the proportion of children in the prehospital setting with an abnormal SI using established criteria, describe the age-based distribution of SI among injured children, and determine prehospital interventions by SI. METHODS: We performed a multi-agency retrospective cross-sectional study of children (<18 years) in the prehospital setting with a scene encounter for suspected trauma and transported to the hospital between 2018 and 2022 using the National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Information System datasets. Our exposure of interest was the first calculated SI. We identified the proportion of children with an abnormal SI when using the SI, pediatric age-adjusted (SIPA); and the pediatric SI (PSI) criteria. We developed and internally validated an age-based distributional model for the SI using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape to describe the age-based distribution of the SI as a centile or Z-score. We evaluated EMS interventions (basic airway interventions, advanced airway interventions, cardiac interventions, vascular access, intravenous fluids, and vasopressor use) in relation to both the SIPA, PSI, and distributional SI values. RESULTS: We analyzed 1,007,863 pediatric EMS trauma encounters (55.0% male, median age 13 years [IQR, 8-16 years]). The most common dispatch complaint was for traffic/transport related injury (32.9%). When using the PSI and SIPA, 13.1% and 16.3% were classified as having an abnormal SI, respectively. There were broad differences in the percentage of encounters classified as having an abnormal SI across the age range, varying from 5.1 to 22.8% for SIPA and 3.7-20.1% for PSI. The SIPA values ranged from the 75th to 95th centiles, while the PSI corresponded to an SI greater than the 90th centile, except in older children. The centile distribution for SI declined during early childhood and stabilized during adolescence and demonstrated a difference of <0.1% at cutoff values. An abnormal PSI, SIPA and higher SI centiles (>90th centile and >95th centiles) were associated with interventions related to basic and advanced airway management, cardiac procedures, vascular access, and provision of intravenous fluids occurred with greater frequency at higher SI centiles. Some procedures, including airway management and vascular access, had a smaller peak at lower (<10th) centiles. DISCUSSION: We describe the empiric distribution of the pediatric SI across the age range, which may overcome limitations of extant criteria in identifying patients with shock in the prehospital setting. Both high and low SI values were associated with important, potentially lifesaving EMS interventions. Future work may allow for more precise identification of children with significant injury using cutpoint analysis paired to outcome-based criteria. These may additionally be combined with other physiologic and mechanistic criteria to assist in triage decisions.

Social Risk, Social Need, and Use of the Emergency Department.

This cohort study examines the association of social risk and social need with emergency department use by patients within a Medicaid accountable care organization who were screened for adverse social determinants of health in primary care.

Analysis of a Medication Safety Intervention in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Importance: Strategies to reduce medication dosing errors are crucial for improving outcomes. The Medication Education for Dosing Safety (MEDS) intervention, consisting of a simplified handout, dosing syringe, dose demonstration and teach-back, was shown to be effective in the emergency department (ED), but optimal intervention strategies to move it into clinical practice remain to be described. Objective: To describe implementation of MEDS in routine clinical practice and associated outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This mixed-methods interrupted time series study of MEDS was conducted April 2021 to December 2022 in an academic pediatric ED using a hybrid type 1 design. Parents and guardians of children aged 90 days to 11.9 years who were discharged with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or both were eligible for inclusion in the quantitative portion. Clinicians from a diversity of role groups (attending physician, resident, and nurse) were eligible for the qualitative portion. Exposures: The study was conducted in 5 stages (baseline, intervention 1, washout, intervention 2, and sustainability phases). The 2 intervention phases taught clinical staff the MEDS intervention using different implementation strategies. During the intervention 1 phase, in-depth interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was reached; results were analyzed using thematic analysis. Interviews informed intervention 2 phase interventions. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was any error (defined as dosing or frequency error) at a 48- to 72-hour follow-up phone call. Results: There were 256 participants (median [IQR] child age, 1.7 [3.0-7.0] years; median [IQR] parent and guardian age, 36.0 [31.0-41.0] years; 200 females among parents and guardians [78.1%]) who consented and completed follow-up. At baseline, 44 of 68 participants (64.7%) made an error compared with 34 of 65 participants (52.3%) during intervention 1, 31 of 63 participants (49.X%) during intervention 2, and 34 of 60 participants (57.X%) during sustainability. After adjustment for language and health literacy, the adjusted odds ratio for error during the combined intervention phases was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.28-0.97) compared with baseline. Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that both MEDS intervention phases were associated with decreased risk of error and that some improvement was sustained without active intervention. These findings suggest that attempts to develop simplified, brief interventions may be associated with improved medication safety for children after discharge from the ED.

An Electronic Medical Record Intervention to Increase Pharmacologic Prophylaxis for Venous Thromboembolism in Emergency Department Observation Patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The role of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis among patients receiving emergency department (ED) observation unit care is unclear. We investigated an electronic health record-based clinical decision support tool aimed at increasing pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis use among at-risk patients placed in ED observation units. METHODS: We conducted an interrupted time-series study of an Epic-based best practice advisory implemented in May 2019 at a health care system comprising 2 academic medical centers and 4 community hospitals with dedicated ED observation units. The best practice advisory alerted staff at 24 hours to conduct a risk assessment and linked to a VTE prophylaxis order set. We used an interrupted time series, Bayesian structured time series, and a multivariable mixed-effect regression model to estimate the intervention effect. RESULTS: Prior to the best practice advisory implementation, there were 8,895 ED observation unit patients with a length of stay more than or equal to 24 hours, and 0.9% received pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis. Afterward, there were 12,664 ED observation unit patients with a length of stay more than or equal to 24 hours, and 4.8% received pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis. The interrupted time series and causal impact analysis showed a statistically significant increase in VTE prophylaxis (eg, absolute percent difference 3.8%, 95% confidence interval 3.5 to 4.1). In a multivariable model, only the intervention was significantly associated with receiving VTE prophylaxis (odds ratio 4.56, 95% confidence interval 2.22 to 9.37). CONCLUSION: An electronic health record-based alert helped to prompt staff caring for ED observation unit patients at risk for VTE with prolonged visits to order recommended pharmacologic prophylaxis. The best risk assessment model to use and the true incidence of VTE events in this population are unclear.

Emergency Department and Health Care System Factors Associated with Telehealth Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: Telehealth capacity may be an important component of pandemic response infrastructure. We aimed to examine changes in the telehealth use by the US emergency departments (EDs) during COVID-19, and to determine whether existing telehealth infrastructure or increased system integration were associated with increased likelihood of use. Methods: We analyzed 2016-2020 National ED Inventory (NEDI)-USA data, including ED characteristics and nature of telehealth use for all US EDs. American Hospital Association data characterized EDs' system integration. An ordinary least-squares regression model obtained one-step-ahead forecast of the expected proportion of EDs using telehealth in 2020 based on growth observed from 2016 to 2019. Among EDs without telehealth in 2019, we used logistic regression models to examine whether system membership or existing telehealth infrastructure were associated with odds of innovation in telehealth use in 2020, accounting for ED characteristics. Results: Of 4,038 EDs responding to telehealth questions in 2019 and 2020 (73% response rate), 3,015 used telehealth in 2020. Telehealth use by US EDs increased more than expected in 2020 (2016: 58%, 2017: 61%, 2018: 65%, 2019: 67%, 2020: 74%, greater than predicted 71%, p = 0.004). Existing telehealth infrastructure was associated with increased telehealth innovation (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.49-2.36), whereas hospital system membership was not (odds ratio [OR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80-1.25). Conclusions: Telehealth use by US EDs in 2020 grew more than expected and preexisting telehealth infrastructure was associated with increased innovation in its use. Preparation for future pandemic responses may benefit from considering strategies to invest in local infrastructure to facilitate technology adoption and innovation.

Establishing outcome-driven vital signs ranges for children in the prehospital setting.

BACKGROUND: Vital signs are frequently used in pediatric prehospital assessments and guide protocol utilization. Common pediatric vital sign classification criteria identify >80% of children in the prehospital setting as having abnormal vital signs, though few receive lifesaving interventions (LSIs). We sought to identify data-driven thresholds for abnormal vital signs by evaluating their association with prehospital LSIs. METHODS: We evaluated prehospital care records for children (<18 years) transported to the hospital during 2022 from a large, national repository of emergency medical services (EMS) patient encounters. Predictors of interest were heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and pulse oximetry. HR, RR, and SBP were converted to Z-scores using age-based distributional models. Our outcome was potential LSIs, defined as performance of selected respiratory procedures, resuscitative interventions, or medication administrations. Using cut point analysis, we identified higher specificity (maximal specificity with a minimum of 25% sensitivity) and higher sensitivity (maximal sensitivity with a minimum of 25% specificity) ranges for each vital sign and evaluated measures of diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: We included 987,515 children (median age 10 years, IQR 2-15 years). An LSI occurred in 4.3% (2.1% with respiratory procedures, 1.2% with resuscitative interventions, and 2.0% with medication administration). HR, RR, and SBP demonstrated a U-shaped association with LSIs. Specificities ranged from 84.1% to 93.7% for higher specificity criteria, with RR demonstrating the best performance (sensitivity 84.6%, specificity 27.0%). Sensitivities ranged from 62.3% to 84.4% for higher sensitivity criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Cut points for pediatric vital signs were associated with LSIs. Specific age-adjusted ranges can identify children at higher and lower risk for receipt of LSI. These ranges may be combined with other objective measures to improve the assessment of children in the prehospital setting, assist in optimizing protocol utilization, improve transport decision making, and guide destination selection.