By Laura French
AUSTIN, Texas — The Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC) under the EMS for Children Program (EMSC) has published resources focused on pediatrics and community engagement with children for EMS Week 2021.
The EMS Week theme for Wednesday, May 19 is EMSC Day, and the EIIC offered ideas for agencies to get involved on that day or focus on pediatric care throughout the week.
The EMSC will host the webinar “Pediatric Readiness: Every Child, Every Day” on May 19 as part of the National Pediatric Readiness Project, which will feature a panel of leads from organizations including the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT). The webinar is free and registration can be completed on the ACEP website.
EMSC will also co-host a free webinar with ACEP on May 20 titled “Pediatric Readiness: Taking Care of Our Children,” which will include updates on the National Prehospital Pediatric Readiness Project.
To get involved on social media, the EIIC created downloadable banners and graphics that can be shared to bring awareness to EMS Week and EMSC Day. The center also offered downloadable templates agencies can send to local schools for kids to write thank-you notes to their local EMTs and paramedics, as well as activity sheets and coloring pages focused on safety education for kids.
To further bring awareness to EMS Week and EMSC Day, the EIIC recommended sending a letter to state officials urging them to proclaim May 19 EMSC Day, highlighting the importance of pediatric emergency care and EMS professionals across the state. Letter and proclamation templates were also published on the EIIC website.
The EIIC encouraged agencies to also learn about the other themed days during EMS Week, including Education Day on May 17, Safety Day on May 18, Stop the Bleed Day on May 20 and EMS Recognition Day on May 21.