Bay Area's Bravest Receive Newest Pediatric Emergency Training

Partnership between Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and San Mateo County Firefighters benefits the entire community

For Release: October 10, 2011

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In a first-of-its-kind in the nation program, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford is partnering with Bay Area firefighters to improve continuity of care for kids facing medical emergencies.

"Emergencies involving children are some of the most difficult that we encounter, both on an operational and emotional level," said John Kammeyer, EMS Division Chief, Central San Mateo County Fire Departments. “To provide the highest level of care for the smallest patients and their families, we wanted to enhance our team’s skills with the very best in emergency pediatric medicine. The Packard Children’s team is arguably the finest in the country, and we’re thrilled to partner with them.” This week, and again on October 26 and 27, nearly 200 area firefighters will receive advanced pediatric training from the Pediatric Advance Workshop With Simulation (PAWWS) program at one of the top teaching hospitals in the country. Pediatric intensive care doctors, emergency department physicians and nurses from the hospital will observe and train the firefighters on the technical and behavioral skills required to save kids' lives. The sessions will help firefighters hone their skills in pediatric assessment and resuscitation, as well as in family-centered care.

"We will be taking actual pediatric emergency codes that the firefighters use and simulating them with our high-tech, lifelike pediatric mannequins," said Lynda Knight, RN, who developed the PAWWS program at Packard Children's. "These are real-life, real-time emergency scenarios, and the firefighters will jump into action with all of their own equipment. We want it to be as real as possible." Firefighters understand that the needs of pediatric patients are usually different from those of an adult. That's why they're excited to partner with the PAWWS program to be certain those first precious minutes of a pediatric emergency are not lost. "The simulations offered by PAWWS are just like those given to our doctors and nurses," added Knight, a clinical nurse educator for the Center for Nursing Excellence at Packard Children's and part of a team that trains over 1000 healthcare providers from throughout the Western region every year. "It's a realistic way to practice and certify life-saving clinical, technical and decision-making skills without risk to a real child."

Training Event Schedule:
10/11/11 - 10/12/11 & 10/26/11 – 10/27/11
9:30 am to 12:30 pm daily
1:30 pm to 4:30 pm daily
4700 Bohannon Road, Menlo Park

Author

Reena Mukamal