Prehospital and Emergency Care Perspectives to Define Pediatric Critical Illness and Injury.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Timely identification of critically ill or injured children in prehospital and emergency settings remains a persistent challenge due to developmental variability, low case volumes in emergency medical services (EMS), and contextual limitations during field assessments. Existing frameworks to identify at-risk children often fail to capture the nuances of pediatric presentations, particularly in resource-limited or mass casualty settings. We aimed to explore prehospital and hospital-based clinician perspectives to inform a Delphi survey for the development of a consensus-driven definition of pediatric critical illness and injury.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative study using one semi-structured interview and two focus groups with participants with expertise in pe

SUBMITTER: Ramgopal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12815507 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature