{"id":523,"date":"2016-05-17T18:41:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T18:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/emergency-medical-services\/?page_id=523"},"modified":"2026-03-14T14:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:12:13","slug":"ems-for-children","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/emergency-medical-services\/other-ems-programs-and-links\/ems-for-children\/","title":{"rendered":"EMS for Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Virginia Emergency Medical Services for Children<\/em> (VA EMSC) program was established in 1996 and has resided in the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services since 2007.\u00a0 The program aims to improve pediatric emergency care capabilities at all levels\u2014prehospital, hospital, acute care, rehabilitation\u2014within the Commonwealth of Virginia.<\/p>\n

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EMSC works to reduce child and youth disability and death due to severe illness or injury.\u00a0 Its goals are to ensure that state-of-the-art emergency medical care is available for all ill or injured children and adolescents; that pediatric services are well integrated into a comprehensive EMS system; and that the entire spectrum of emergency services, including primary prevention of illness and injury, acute care, and rehabilitation, are provided to children and adolescents in Virginia.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

Children are NOT “little adults”,<\/em> and require specific skills related to assessment and emergency care, as well as specialized and specific types and sizes of emergency care equipment and supplies.\u00a0 Over 35 million children are treated each year. 80% of hospitals emergency departments see less than 10 pediatric patients a day and 80% of EMS agencies see less than 8 pediatric patients a month. Generally, these providers are very uncomfortable caring for this small subset of patients, and often feel under-prepared when these children are encountered.<\/p>\n

EMS for Children uses federal grant funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Health Resources and Services Administration\u2014HRSA) and the Maternal Child Health Bureau to facilitate initiatives related to childhood injury and illness prevention, pediatric emergency care and assessment training, school health, EMS and hospital preparedness, and improving and collecting pediatric data.\u00a0 The program works to positively affect these issues through education, system development, technical assistance and research and is dedicated to saving children’s lives. Since its inception in 1984, this program has seen a decrease of 40% in deaths of pediatric patients.<\/div>\n
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Resources<\/h3>\n