Twenty Years of Emergency Medical Services for Children: A Cause for Celebration and a Call for Action

Abstract

The 20th anniversary of the federal Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program should be cause for great celebration within the emergency medical services (EMS) community and for all child health care advocates. Over the past 20 years, the EMSC program has helped lead the way toward systematic improvements in the delivery of emergency care to children in every state in the United States. Contributions by the EMSC program have resulted in remarkable advances in pediatric emergency care and substantial improvements in the quality of life of countless ill and/or injured children. The EMSC program is undoubtedly responsible for saving many young lives. A review of the EMSC program’s accomplishments over these past 2 decades should stimulate a great sense of satisfaction, even pride, within our profession. Many practitioners who care for acutely ill or injured children have likely benefited from products developed by the EMSC program (eg, educational tools and training programs; pediatric medication and equipment standards; and pediatric emergency care protocols, practice guidelines, and facility preparedness standards).1–3 Some of you may also be actively engaged in EMSC-sponsored activities within your institution, state, or professional organization. The sense of satisfaction and pride we have in the EMSC program’s accomplishments are only exceeded by the anticipation of the advances in pediatric emergency medical care that lie directly ahead. It is unfortunate that as we celebrate EMSC’s 20th anniversary, current events threaten the program’s future and should be a cause of great concern to all of us. The President’s budget for fiscal year 2006, released on February 7, 2005, requested no funding for EMSC, effectively proposing to eliminate the program. In addition, the program’s authorization is scheduled to expire at the end of this fiscal year. The future of EMSC, and the great promise it holds for additional …