When you’re working in medical air transport, you would encounter all kinds of patients. There will be times you have to care for and transport pediatric patients. While the experience may be highly rewarding, it can also be extremely challenging. As a result of this, many air ambulance paramedics and EMS providers are at risk of making pediatric treatment errors.
Reasons and Risk Factors of Pediatric Treatment Errors
Due to the delicate nature of their bodies, children are susceptible of getting critically ill in just a matter of seconds. This is where the skill and expertise of the medical air transport paramedic will make a huge difference. Be aware of the following risk factors of errors in pediatric treatment so you can provide better quality of care:
- Insufficient training regarding pediatric patients
- Infrequent hands-on experience dealing with pediatric patients
- High stress levels compelling providers to scoop and run instead of staying and treating pediatric patients
- Lack of appropriate equipment to care for and/or transport children in an air ambulance
Basics in Pediatric Treatment for Medical Air Transport Paramedics
In addition to the above risk factors, be aware of the following basic tips that will help you provide better care to pediatric patients:
- Thoroughly assess pediatric patients to identify less-obvious medical conditions
- Cross check everything before administering medications
- Instead of relying on memory, contact medical control in case you have any queries
- Coordinate with administrators regarding any system flaws or setbacks so as to improve on pediatric patient care
It’ll be important to stay calm and composed no matter how stressed you may feel in the beginning. If you panic, there’s a high risk of making mistakes in patient assessment and medicine administration.
