Hospital Outreach Program

Our goal is to provide ongoing resources and information to assist you in caring for the children in our community.

The majority of ill and injured children are seen at a community hospital emergency department nearest their location. In the United States, 69% of EDs provide care for fewer than 15 children per day. Community emergency departments need to be prepared to accurately assess and, at a minimum, stabilize and safely transfer children who are acutely ill and injured. (Remick, K., et al., 2018)

Our Hospital Outreach Program (HOP) aims to assist you in better serving the needs of children presenting in your emergency department. We are here to provide pediatric recommendations and develop a partnership with you to ensure continuity of care. We can assist you in recognizing the unique needs of children and their families, including those with special needs. In addition, we can help you develop a plan to evaluate your hospital’s pediatric emergency care quality and safety, as well as your team’s competencies. We can also provide feedback on patients transferred to our hospital to give closure to your team.

In addition to helping ensure that your hospital’s care is safe and consistent for all children, we are ready to assist you at times when transfer is necessary by providing exceptional care backed by the research, innovation, and discoveries coming from a leading university and top-ranked academic medical center.

Our Hospital Outreach Program is led by:

Andy Wen, MD Andy Wen, MD, clinical associate professor of Pediatrics, director of Regional Critical Care Services, Stanford University School of Medicine
Melanie Stroud, RN, MBA Melanie Stroud, RN, MBA, director of Hospital Outreach Program and Pediatric Trauma

Email us for more information or to follow up on a patient transferred to our hospital.

AAP policy statement on caring for children in the emergency department

“2018 Guidelines for Care of Children in the Emergency Department,” by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), refers to resources necessary for community hospitals to take care of children of all ages. More information is available here.

We are here to help with the following areas based on the AAP’s recommendations:

  • Demonstration and maintenance of pediatric clinical competencies through continuing education, including team training exercises, simulation, and participation in conferences and Grand Rounds.
  • Assessment and reassessment of pediatric illness and injuries.
  • Assisting with specific structural and process measures to improve patient safety and quality of care—for example, medication safety, pain assessment/sedation and analgesia, order sets, procedures, equipment safety, and evidenced-based clinical pathways.
  • Policies, procedures, and protocols.
  • Imaging and lab guidelines and recommendations.
  • Resuscitation, including critical care monitoring, neonatal resuscitation, and pediatric resuscitation.
  • Trauma resuscitation and stabilization: traumatic brain injury, fracture management, hemorrhagic control, and recognition of nonaccidental trauma.
  • Disaster management, including triage of pediatric victims, tracking and identification, and reunification.
  • Patient- and family-centered care, including cultural competencies, health literacy concepts, and skills.
  • Quality improvement and performance improvement measures, including the transfer and transport process.
  • Social and behavioral health issues, child maltreatment mandated reporting and assessment.
  • Death of a child in the ED—emotional assistance for staff and physicians, bereavement counseling.
  • Children with special health care needs and developmental disabilities.
  • Telehealth and telecommunications.
  • Consideration of any other identified need you may have as our respected partners in the community.

You can find more resources to help with these areas here.

Remick, K., et al. (2018). Pediatric Readiness in the Emergency Department. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Section on Surgery, American College of Emergency Physicians Pediatric Emergency Medicine Committee, and Emergency Nurses Association Pediatric Committee. Pediatrics (November 2018), 142 (5): e20182459; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2459.

Resources

Pediatric Bronchiolitis Surge

Recorded presentation

Newsletters

Reference materials

Contact us

Please let us know if other topics or references would be helpful. Feel free to reach out anytime via email.