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SPANO ANNOUNCES NEW PEDIATRIC TRAINING FOR EMERGENCY WORKERS
Program gives EMTs and paramedics additional training in treating critically ill and injured children

There is nothing more terrifying than the sight of a critically ill or injured child, except maybe the frantic look on the faces of his or her parents. Ask any paramedic or emergency medical worker and they will tell you that calls involving children are the most difficult and emotionally draining.

That's why Westchester is now offering additional training to help first responders prepare for the medical and emotional challenges of answering these calls.

"Children are not little adults,'' said County Executive Andy Spano. "They need specialized care, and we want to make sure they get the best care there is. To do that, we realized that more training was needed for the EMTs, paramedics and others who deal with critically ill or injured children. Thanks to many dedicated people -- from doctors at the medical center who volunteered their time to our Department of Emergency Services which is coordinating this entire effort -- we are now able to give these men and women the tools they need to save young lives.''

On Oct. 20 and 21, Dr. Jolie Yuknek, director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Westchester Medical Center, coordinated the first two-day session of the new Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP) program. Twenty people participated, including EMS educators, EMTs, paramedics and RNs who will serve as instructors when the program goes on the road in the weeks ahead.

Participants learned how to assess pediatric patients and how to deal with respiratory emergencies, cardiovascular emergencies and trauma, such as burns, accidents etc. Part of the program, developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, also dealt with delivering babies and treating children with special health needs -- a growing population.

So far, the program's only cost has been $12,000 for new training equipment, which will also be used for other training purposes. Eventually, the county will also fund the cost of Department of Emergency Services staff who conduct training sessions.

"Statistically, just ten percent of EMS calls are for pediatric patients, and only ten percent of those are for life threatening problems,'' said Dr. Yuknek. "Therefore, the basic training for both emergency medical technicians and paramedics focuses mainly on the treatment of adults. The Academy of Pediatrics' goal was to create a comprehensive program to enhance and expand the knowledge and skills of those who care for ill and injured children. We thank the County Executive, the Board of Legislators, and all those who worked to develop this program, for the opportunity to provide this important training.''

The new program is the result of an extensive, collaborative effort between county government and the healthcare community. Last March, the Board of Legislators' Committee on Families, headed by county legislators Lois Bronz, Paul Noto and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, released a report calling for improved pediatric emergency services. The report found, among other things, that even paramedics who receive more than 1,000 hours of training can be given as little as 15 hours of instruction in pediatrics.

Following the report, Spano pledged in his State of the County address to include pediatric training as part of his efforts to improve emergency services in Westchester. In addition to creating the new Department of Emergency Services, which for the first time put fire, disaster and emergency services under one department, the Spano administration funded a new Computer Assisted Dispatch System to improve emergency response time. It also provided dispatchers at Emergency Services with emergency medical training to give medical instructions to callers over the phone while they await professional help.