Pediatric Life Support in Prehospital Emergency Medicine: An Empirical Investigation in the Context of Taiwan's Critical Shortage of Pediatric Emergency Specialists.

Abstract

This study aims to facilitate parental identification of designated emergency facilities for expeditious pediatric care within the framework of Taiwan's newly implemented "regional joint defense" approach to pediatric emergency services. The research seeks to elucidate the mechanisms by which this novel system can enhance timely access to appropriate emergency care for children, potentially improving health outcomes and resource utilization in acute pediatric situations. Factor analysis (FA) and triangular entropy matrix (TEM) analyzed the appearance, breathing and skin of pediatric assessment triangle (ABC of PAT), three types of prehospital pediatric emergence condition (PPEC), five levels of Taiwan's pediatric emergency triage (TPET), and applied the social learning theory (SLT) in educational doctrine, using experts' weighted questionnaires. Firstly, to address deficiencies in Taiwan's pediatric prehospital emergency medicine (PEM) system, integrating emergency medical knowledge (EMK) and pediatric life support (PLS) into medical education, staff training, and the national handbook for new parents is crucial. This equips parents to manage children's illnesses and prevent emergencies. Then, in life-threatening situations, immediate emergency room (ER) transport is vital for symptoms like whitish or purple lips, cold limbs, mottled skin, cold sweat, convulsions, dyspnea, chest dimples, weak consciousness, and oxygen saturation below 94%. Finally, for non-life-threatening emergencies, seek medical evaluation if symptoms include wheezing, chest tightness, chest pain, persistent high fever over 39 degrees with convulsions, chills, cold sweats, not eating or urinating for over 12 hours, or fever lasting more than 48 hours. Parents must remain calm and provide their baby with a sense of security while observing the development of physical symptoms. This approach enables them to effectively determine the most appropriate time to take their children to the emergency room, thereby avoiding life-threatening emergencies. Prompt and proper measures and treatments not only alleviate various discomforts caused by illness or medical emergencies but also reduce systemic distress, life-threatening situations, and unfortunate incidents before hospitalization.