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EMSC Archives

Florida EMSC Program Highlights

2007 Major Highlights

  • EMSC sponsored three Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP) Courses in South Florida training over 60 prehospital professionals.


  • In May, we celebrated EMS week and EMSC day by distributing a triage resource kit statewide to all 67 county health departments. The kit contained the following: two (2) Broselow Pediatric Antidotes For Chemical Warfare Tapes, JumpSTART/START Badge cards, "Save A Child" Poster, and Emergency Information Forms.


  • Appointments were made by the State Surgeon General for the 2007-2009 term of the EMSC Advisory Committee on October 7, 2007. Committee members represent various health care specialties as well as geographic areas. New committee members to join the family are Jessica Delgado, Joann DeSerio, Dr. Phyllis Hendry, Carl Kaufman, Amanda Kraft, Pamela Pieper, Beth Ann Ramey, Cory Richter, and Michael Rushing.


  • Co-sponsored the Prehospital Pediatric Education Symposium. This "Premier Pediatric Emergency Medical Services ConferenceĀ” was held on November 27-28, in Orlando at the Rosen Plaza Hotel. 123 prehospital and hospital providers attended. The EMSC Program awarded numerous scholarships statewide to support prehospital excellence in pediatric care.


  • Over 3,600 K.I.D. (Kids In Disaster) Kits, a pediatric resource for disaster responders and receivers developed by Dr. Lou Romig, Florida EMSC Medical Advisor, have been distributed to prehospital and hospital provider agencies statewide, nationally and internationally. This kit focuses on pediatric aspects of disaster triage and the emergency medical assessment and treatment of illness and injury resulting from man-made or natural disasters. It provides PowerPoint presentations, video, and resources for use in training staff and developing pediatric protocols in disaster management.


  • EMSC continues to stay actively involved in EMS Advisory Committees: Data; Medical Care; Public, Information, Education and Relations; Disaster; and Strategic Visions to ensure a collaborative method is used to achieve our national EMSC performance measures and the Florida EMS strategic plan's goals and objectives.

In 2008, we're looking forward to providing resources and educational opportunities to prehospital and hospital providers statewide through a second symposium, as well as additional educational programs. Also, EMSC will be conducting surveys to collect data on pediatric medical care throughout Florida. And let us not forget, our new role in assuring the objectives in the 2008-2010 EMS Strategic Plan assigned to EMSC are being achieved.

2006 Major Highlights

  • EMSC sponsored eight Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP) Courses throughout the state.


  • In May, we celebrated EMS week and EMSC day by distributing over 7,000 EMSC stickers/cards to raise awareness for the program to rural hospitals throughout Florida.


  • EMSC sent over 260 copies of the "Decontamination for Children" DVDs to hospital emergency departments and EMS Initial Training Centers in Florida.


  • EMSC printed 100,000 laminated badge cards with the START and JumpSTART MCI Triage Algorithm; as well as 5,000 Broselow CWIK (Chemical Warfare in Kids) antidote tapes. We will be distributing these to EMS provider agencies and Emergency Departments as they send in their survey responses.


  • As part of the EMSC grant goals and objectives, as well as the Florida EMS Strategic Plan, we are collecting important data on pediatric care in Florida. Dr. Posey's workgroup put together a survey for hospital emergency departments, which was sent out last month. We already have over 50% response! Dr. Daniels and the Education workgroup developed surveys for both the EMS medical directors and the EMS initial training centers.


  • EMSC has become actively involved in EMS advisory committee groups: Data, Legislative, Medical Care, Public Information, Education and Disaster Committees.


  • During the first week in December, a video crew under the direction of Dr. Lou Romig, shot the film for our upcoming K.I.D. (Kids In Disaster) Kit, a pediatric MCI triage DVD resource tool. A school bus accident was staged, with 15 pediatric victims, interested bystanders, and panicked family! The DVD is scheduled to be available in March of 2007. Many thanks to the Tallahassee Fire Dept, Gadsden County School District, Leon County EMS, and the FSU School of Nursing for their participation in this tremendous endeavor.

"Care of Children in the Emergency Department: Guidelines for Preparedness Implementation Kit"

"The Care of Children in the Emergency Department: Guidelines for Preparedness Implementation Kit" is now available as a downloadable file from the American College of Emergency Physicians' (ACEP) website. The implementation kit will help administrators and other hospital personnel implement essential equipment and staffing recommendations so their emergency department will be ready to provide the best pediatric care possible. To access the kit online, go to: http://host.acep.org.tmp3.secure-xp.net/aapacep/

Florida EMSC Advisory Committee Information Packet (Zip 15 MB)

EMSC Grant Activities

2003-2005:  The bureau will review existing methods/instruments for disseminating information and determine ways to improve and expand the existing system.  Special focus will be on reaching rural EMS providers and families of children with special health care needs.  The bureau will continue efforts to ensure that EMSC is included in statewide planning processes, particularly those that involve disaster preparedness.  The bureau will identify and distribute pediatric education and/or training resources for school resource officers and first responders in counties without hospitals.  This will include working with focus groups to determine their specific needs. 

2002-2003:  The bureau focused on the Emergency Department Preparedness for Pediatrics Project and the overall goal of incorporating EMSC and pediatric issues into the existing EMS system.  This included disaster preparedness, data, and other state EMS plans and initiatives.  In addition, the program continued its efforts to improve statewide communication and education by regularly updating the web site, publishing a newsletter, strengthening liaisons with other state agencies, organizations, and consumer groups, and continued partnership with SAFE KIDS, Risk Watch, PEPP (AAP), and other educational and prevention programs.  The bureau also began implementation of the EMSC strategic plan.

2001-2002: The bureau focused on the development of a strategic plan to address the issues identified in the needs assessment. An ad hoc committee of the EMSC Advisory Committee was assembled to develop goals, objectives, and action plans through consensus. A preliminary draft of the completed plan was disseminated for public comment and appropriate revisions were made based upon those comments. The final plan was then submitted for department review, approval, and subsequent publication.

2000-2001: The bureau focused on a statewide needs assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing EMS (prevention to rehabilitation) care for children. The EMSC needs assessment tool developed by the National Resource Center, as well as surveys and interview tools developed by other grantees who have conducted needs assessments, were reviewed. During the data collection process, vital statistics records and data from other agencies in the state were reviewed and a determination was made as to what independent data collection is necessary. Upon completion of the needs assessment, a report will be developed outlining the issues to be addressed in the future.

EMSC Products and Educational Tools

Needs Assessment

Needs Assessment Cover

The Florida EMSC program has published the 2001 EMSC Needs Assessment [.pdf  1947k]. The purpose is to obtain a better understanding of pediatric services in Florida across the EMSC continuum including prevention, pre-hospital, acute care, and rehabilitation. The Needs Assessment provides a catalyst for growth and new direction of the program.


Pediatric Preparedness Broadcast - PowerPoint Presentation

Florida EMSC worked with Florida State University's College of Medicine and the Florida Department of Health to develop a broadcast entitled "Pediatric Preparedness and Response to Bioterrorism: Addressing the Needs of Special Populations."  The broadcast was held on March 30, 2004 and was available to all county public health departments and other healthcare providers across the state.

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This page was last modified on: 04/20/2009 03:02:04