Overview
What's New
Meetings
Florida EMSC Program Highlights
Products and Educational Tools
Helpful Links
Publications
Partnership Grant Activities
EMSC Advisory Committee Members

What's New!

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

http://host.acep.org.tmp3.secure-xp.net/aapacep/

Meetings

Florida EMSC Advisory Committee Information Packet (Zip 15 MB)

Emergency Guidelines for Schools (PDF 438kb/63 pages)

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 Conference” 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.

Overview

EMSC has been active in the Florida EMS system for several years, with the help of a group of dedicated EMS and pediatric health care providers. The lead agency is the Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. Due to combined, diligent efforts, the 1997 Florida Legislature established a committee to advise the Department of Health on matters concerning preventative, prehospital, hospital, rehabilitative, and other post medical care for children (Section 401.245(6), Florida Statutes). Members are appointed by the State Surgeon General and serve two-year terms. The committee meets quarterly in conjunction with the EMS Advisory Council and constituent group meetings.  Member List (PDF 51.5 KB)

On August 25, 1997, the Florida Department of Health was awarded a federal partnership grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Bureau to support the activities of the Florida Bureau of EMS and its EMSC Advisory Committee. Since then, the Bureau has consistently applied for and received funding for federal EMSC partnership grants every three years. The most recent grant became effective March 1, 2003 and will end on February 28, 2006.  The primary goal for the years 2003-2006 is statewide integration of children's issues into the EMS system. This goal reflects one of the key goals in the National EMSC Program's Five Year Plan. 

The Florida EMSC program will continue its efforts to improve statewide communication and education by regularly updating the web site, strengthening liaisons with other state agencies, organizations and consumer groups, and continued partnership with SAFE KIDS , NFPA Risk Watch, and other educational and prevention programs.

The Florida EMSC program has made great strides in becoming a sustained program in the Florida Bureau of EMS and the Florida Department of Health. There is a legislatively mandated EMSC Advisory Committee and in-kind support from the Bureau of EMS by way of a permanent EMSC coordinator, a nurse director, a program specialist, and other administrative personnel. The EMSC program has become more integrated with the EMS system by changes in committee structure, reporting procedures, and improved communication. The EMSC program is also well supported by other state agencies and organizations, including the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, Children's Medical Services, Florida Pediatric Society, Florida Hospital Association, Florida Committee on Trauma and many more. In addition to these partnerships, there is a new and expanded leadership group in the Florida EMSC program that is dedicated to making Florida a model EMSC state.

Helpful Links

Florida Department of Health - Children's Medical Services
The Children's Medical Services (CMS)    program provides children with special health care needs with a family centered, managed system of care. Children with special health care needs are those children under age 21 whose serious or chronic physical or developmental conditions require extensive preventive and maintenance care beyond that required by typically healthy children.

Florida Institute for Family Involvement (FIFI) -
FIFIworks closely with all system stakeholders to develop partnerships and open opportunities for collaboration that includes families as part of system design, service planning and delivery, and as members of program quality improvement teams.

FLORIDA EMSC Publications

EMSC Newsletter

EMSC Federal Partnership Grant Activities

2006-2009:  The bureau will collect baseline and annual data for each of the performance measures by the end of each grant year. The bureau will develop a policy for submission to legislation that requires paramedics to have pediatric continuing medical education for recertification. The bureau will develop Florida's capacity to obtain EMS and pediatric specific data, in accordance with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Data Set to document the status and progress of emergency care in Florida.

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. 

Previous years activities can now be found on the Archives Page

EMSC Advisory Committee

Florida law has established an EMSC Advisory Committee to advise the Department of Health on matters concerning preventative, pre-hospital, hospital, rehabilitative, and other post medical care for children.  Members are appointed by the State Surgeon General and serve two-year terms.
Committee Members List [PDF 64.62KB/ 3 pages]

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