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Project Name: EMSC Partnership Grants (H33)
Applicant Title: Yale New Haven Hospital, Inc.
Abstract Text: Project Title: The Connecticut Emergency Medical Services for Children State Partnership Program (CT EMSC) Applicant Organization: Yale New Haven Hospital, Inc. Address: 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06510 Project Director: Erika Setzer, MSN, BSN, RN, CEN, CNML, NE-BC Contact Phone Numbers: (v) xxx-xxx-xxxx Email Address: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx Website Address: https://www.ctemsc.com/ Funds Requested: $205,000 for each of four program years, or $820,000 in total As the current grantee for the CT EMSC SP, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Inc. (YNHH), in collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and the State of Connecticut Office of Emergency Medical Services (CT OEMS), has managed the Connecticut EMSC program for 6 years. This partnership has provided multi-disciplinary training and assessment support to Connecticut’s 27 acute care hospitals not designated as "children's hospitals" and 175 EMS agencies in order to enhance the quality and safety of emergency care provided to Connecticut's children. While tremendous progress has been made, the CT EMSC SP will continue its focus on quality improvement, both in meeting HRSA-defined project goals, as well as leading and supporting specific quality improvement (QI) initiatives focused on improving pediatric outcomes and experience of care delivered by hospital-based and EMS providers. For example, the CT EMSC SP has partnered with RNs and MDs at community hospitals around the state to support QI projects and disseminate results, including projects focused on best practices in managing pediatric anxiety in the emergency department. In addition, the CT EMSC program at YNHCH, in partnership with the state’s other children’s hospital, has produced two “Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes” (Project ECHO) online education programs for practitioners at CT community hospitals – one of which was focused on pediatric behavioral health, an area of critical need throughout our state and, indeed, the entire country. In this upcoming four-year period of performance, the CT EMSC SP will continue to support the expansion and improvement of emergency medical services for CT’s children who need treatment for trauma or critical care, regardless of where in the state they reside. CT EMSC SP will achieve these goals by: (1) expanding the uptake of Pediatric Readiness Guidelines in Emergency Departments; (2) increasing pediatric disaster readiness by supporting the integration of pediatrics in hospital and prehospital disaster plans; and (3) prioritizing family partnership and leadership to improve EMSC systems of care. A major challenge in achieving EMSC goals is securing EMS agency buy-in due to the fact they lack capacity to spare staff or volunteers for training, or lack the infrastructure to implement new practices. Many agencies see very few pediatric calls and therefore may think having designated EMSC training is not beneficial or worth the time to implement. The majority of EMS agencies who responded to our survey reported that typically <10% of their total calls are pediatric. CT EMSC will continue to work closely with EMS agencies to develop innovative approaches to building and maintaining pediatric competency among this provider population. With a focus on these 4 main HRSA-established goals, the CT EMSC SP program aims to further its mission to attain equitable access to pediatric emergency care and everyday readiness for all children across Connecticut, especially for those children living in racial/ethnic minority, tribal, and rural communities.