Tia Dickson, RN, BSN

Primary Children's Hospital

Have you ever read through this newsletter and wished you could get CME credits for it? We are excited to say that now there is a way. If training officers use future newsletter topics as a team training or review AND your group performs a simulation/skills check as directed, they can send a roster of participants to Utah.PETOS@gmail.com and they will be issued 1 hour of CME credits for each participant from the DHHS Office of EMS and Preparedness.

It has been said that finding pediatric education and CME credits is hard. Folks have asked us for some direction and today we will provide more information.

Nationally, the pediatric training requirement for EMS provider licensure varies, from 4–9 hours for EMTs and 7–34 hours for paramedics, often combining pediatrics into a "special populations" domain (geriatrics, obstetrics, etc.)

National registry: To recertify, the registry requires 2.5 hrs of peds education for EMTs and 3.5 for paramedics every 2 years on 2 peds topics, pediatric cardiac arrest and peds transport. All other pediatric education is lumped in with special or at-risk populations.

Utah Department of Health and Human Services Office of EMS and Preparedness (EMSP): The current rule says when a provider submits a renewal application, they are required to select from 1 of the approved courses. The requirements for each level are listed below. All pediatric courses must have an in-person skills evaluation completed by an instructor. Unlisted courses may be evaluated and possibly approved but this is a formal process through the DHHS Office of EMSP. For more information on these rules check out the Utah EMS Education Update

• EMD, EMR, EMT: BLS CPR
• AEMT: BLS CPR, Peds Education
• Paramedic: BLS CPR, Peds Education, and ACLS
  

Are you familiar with the term muscle memory? Where do we get it? We get it from the things we do every day (CPR, chest pain, trauma, etc.). Your pediatric muscle memory is atrophied, even in parts of the state with the highest pediatric population.

The infrequency of seeing pediatric patients in the field means that pediatric care training does not become ‘hard-wired’ into EMS providers’ ‘muscle memory.’ Because many EMS agencies have such a limited chance to exercise their pediatric skills in real-life settings, the responding EMS providers don’t feel confident in providing appropriate care. - PECC Learning Collaborative (PECCLC)

The Office of EMPS and EMSC do not endorse any 1 class over another. However, EMSC has tried to find ways to help you comply with this rule. We can bring PEPP courses to your agency. PEPP is our most cost effective option at $21.95 per person (see instructions below).

EMSC has a staff member, our lead course coordinator, Erik Andersen (erikandersen@utah.gov). He schedules and executes our courses. He is also a great resource if you are independent and need help finding a course near you.

Every second Monday of each month from 2 to 3 p.m., you can attend virtual pediatric lectures for EMS or face time with PCH attending physicians. If you watch the virtual presentation in real time you will receive a certificate which qualifies you for 1 hour CME credit from the DHHS Office of EMSP.

• The process: to receive a certificate of attendance be sure to include your email address when the host requests it in the chat during the live presentation. Certificates are e-mailed out after verification of attendance and processing.

You can also get 1 hour of CME credit for watching the archived presentations. Archived presentations can be found at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/primary-childrens/classes-events/petos

• The process: after you watch an archived presentation, e-mail utah.petos@gmail.com with the date and title of presentation. You will receive a 3-question quiz to verify participation. Once the quiz is returned, a certificate is e-mailed to you. We try to have certificates out within a week but we will occasionally have delays.

A pediatric toolbox is a lesson plan in a box for the 2 most often responded to pediatric calls, respiratory illness and seizures. When completed, each training is worth 2 pediatric CME credits for each of your students.

• The process: your agency PECC or a training officer just needs to email Tdickson@utah.gov to get access to the google doc.

As we said above, certain issues of our newsletter will now offer CME credit opportunity.

• The process: if training officers use future newsletter topics as a team training or review AND your group performs a simulation/skills check that is included in those newsletters, they can send a roster of participants to Utah.PETOS@gmail.com and each participant will be issued 1 hour of CME credit from the DHHS Office of EMSP.

Abuse recognition module: this training was developed by Colorado's EMSC and offers 2 hrs of CME credit when you complete the free course online. The goal of the abuse recognition module is to improve the ability of clinicians to recognize accidental versus intentional injuries in order to improve accuracy when reporting suspected child abuse.

• The process: go to www.identifychildabuse.org and complete the module. It generates a certificate of completion.

Zero suicide training: this free course is about how to reduce access to the methods people use to die by suicide. It covers who needs lethal means counseling and how to work with people at risk for suicide—and their families—to reduce access.

• The process: For EMS: complete the counseling on access to lethal means (CALM) training at https://zerosuicidetraining.edc.org/enrol/index.php?id=20. Hospital clinicians should take the preventing suicide in emergency departments at https://zerosuicidetraining.edc.org/enrol/index.php?id=30

Colorado EMSC education

Every state has an EMCS program and some of them, like Utah, are very invested in making great pediatric education. EMSC Colorado is one of the best! These trainings offer CMEs that can be submitted to national registry.

• The process: visit their site https://www.emsccolorado.com/online-education and choose your topic.

Primary Children's Hospital (PCH) now offers in-depth and general case reviews for agencies and hospitals. One of their 3 nurses will come to your facility to walk you through some difficult cases and exchange ideas. These nurses can also provide feedback to individuals who have questions about their own patient care.

The process: see the follow up flyer below.

In each newsletter we highlight a Utah EMS protocol guideline to enhance our topic. These guidelines are a great source of pediatric education. Each has a "peds track" of treatment options.

The Utah EMS protocol guidelines were developed for the DHHS Office of EMS and Preparedness by a panel of physicians, EMS medical directors, pediatric emergency medicine specialists, paramedics, and EMTs to provide EMS agencies with a set of up-to-date treatment guidelines and standing orders. These guidelines were developed using current best medical evidence and the expert consensus of the development panel. They incorporated information from the National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines (www.nasemso.org), feedback from the state EMS committee, the Trauma Systems advisory committee, and multiple EMS medical directors and EMS providers from around the state.

SimBox+ & +Tele SimBox is a free online simulation for EMS. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to facilitate a pediatric simulation. You can use it to augment in-person, hybrid, or distance simulation. It requires low to no technology.

The process: go to the site, choose a topic, read through the booklet, and conduct your sim.

The pediatric grand rounds weekly lecture series covers cutting-edge research and practical clinical applications, for hospital and community-based pediatricians, registered nurses, and other physicians and practitioners who care for children of any age.

The series is held every Thursday, 8 to 9 a.m. from September through May in the 3rd Floor Auditorium at Primary Children's Hospital. The lectures are also broadcast live to locations throughout Utah and nationwide.

ADD SERIES TO YOUR CALENDAR

The University of Utah hosts several monthly education series from their seasonal prevention to ECHO. Many have a pediatric focus and all are CME credit eligible.

• University of Utah Trauma/Injury Prevention Learning Series
  
• University of Utah Pediatric ECHO—Autism 101

The Educational Enterprise in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah,

• Teaches high-value, outstanding pediatric medicine across the continuum.
• Promotes faculty development in delivering and assessing educational efforts.
• Trains pediatricians to improve the lives of children through advocacy, education, research, and clinical care.

The Pediatric Education Enterprise is the central point for all pediatric training programs at the University of Utah and Primary Children's Hospital. Explore our large variety of pediatric training programs, check out our DEI and Med Ed scholarship program-wide initiatives, and discover all that living in Utah and training at The University of Utah and Primary Children's Hospital have to offer.

Current upcoming events offering pediatric CME for EMS:

• The Western Pediatric Trauma Conference (cost for EMS: $30, 17.50 hours of CME credit eligible).
• The Utah Pediatric Trauma Conference (free)
• The UTN conference (cost $100) will be offering 7.5 hrs of AMA PRA credit
  
• Issues in Pediatric Care Conference—registration opening soon (see flyer below)
• Children's Hospital Colorado has several pediatric lecture series for all clinicians offering varied levels of CME credits

Formed in 2016, the Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC) leverages quality improvement science, the experiential knowledge of its co-lead organizations—the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's, as well as partners at Yale University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Lundquist Institute—and the expertise of multiple professional societies and federal organizations to improve health care outcomes for children in emergency settings. The EIIC is part of the Emergency Medical Services for Children program.

Our mission: The mission of the EIIC is to optimize outcomes for children across the emergency care continuum by leveraging quality improvement science and multidisciplinary, multisystem collaboration.

National EMSC offers a newsletter filled with fantastic pediatric information, resources, and links. Check it out!

The medical home portal is a resource for professionals and families who care for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and want to achieve the best possible outcomes for their health, well-being, and success.

EMSC's Family Network representative (FAN), Jeff Wilson, is a paramedic and a father. He has a son who has autism. He and his family developed a free training for healthcare providers on how to care for neuro-divergent youth.

If you'd like agency training on autism, contact our Utah EMSC FAN representative Jeff Wilson. Jeffwilson122615@gmail.com

The process: email tdickson@utah.gov with your question. It will be forwarded to the best MD resource at PCH.

• NASEM: Addressing the Long-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families
• OpenPediatrics: Pediatric Pain Management in the Emergency Department
• Carter Kits help first responders take better care of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder

National EMSC has a newsletter filled with fantastic pediatric information, resources and links. Check it out!

EMSC would like to congratulate Guy Dansie on his retirement after a long career within the DHHS Office of EMS and Preparedness. Guy has always been an avid supporter of the Utah EMSC program and has helped us create so many of the good programs and efforts we have in place. He will be missed!

• Deep Learning and Vision-Based Early Drowning Detection | Information
• Impact of Caregiver Swimming Capability on Perceptions of Swimming Pool Supervision of Toddlers | Injury Epidemiology

There are stabilization and mobile response programs now active for the following counties; Utah, Wasatch, Sevier, Sanpete, Piute, Juab, Wayne, and Millard. Spread the word and use the attached PDFs as handouts for your summer community events.

This conference is being offered virtually for EMS providers at the deeply discounted rate of $30. See the information below and spread the word!

For EMS agencies: Three Ways to Improve your EMS Agency’s Pediatric Readiness

For hospitals: Most of you know that ACA has added pediatric disaster readiness requirements to trauma verification. What should a hospital have to meet this requirement? See this checklist.

We want to help you meet this requirement. Over the next few months our partners will provide resources that can be customized and added to your disaster plans. Refer to your June PECC newsletter for more information.

We are excited to introduce the John Wilson autism kits that will be made available during our autism trainings. The training and kits are free to you. These kits can be stocked in the ambulance to enhance your care of neuro-divergent children.

Contact Jeff Wilson jeffwilson122615@gmail.com to set up a training.

Pediatric education for the prehospital provider

Register online at www.peppsite.com. Look up classes in Utah and find the 1 that works for you. Once you find the class, go to jblearning.com, and look up pepp als in the search tool. Purchase the number ($21.95). Return to peppsite.org to register for the class and follow the prompts.

If you have any questions, email Erik Andersen at erikandersen@utah.gov or text/call 435-597-7098. Continue to watch the website for additional classes.

The Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program aims to ensure emergency medical care for the ill and injured child or adolescent is well integrated into an emergency medical service system. We work to ensure the system is backed by optimal resources and that the entire spectrum of emergency services (prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation) is provided to children and adolescents, regardless of where they live, attend school, or travel.

Email: tdickson@utah.gov
Website: https://bemsp.utah.gov/
Phone: 801-707-3763
Facebook: facebook.com/Chirp-UtahDepartmentofHealth