Paediatric prehospital care: postal survey of paramedic training managers

Background-The process of prehospital care continues to develop in the UK. Aims-To evaluate the availability of important paediatric resuscitation equipment in emergency ambulances and the extent of paramedic training in paediatric emergency medicine. Methods-Postal survey of paramedic training managers. Results-Completed questionnaires were returned by 41 (93%) training managers. No trust provided all of the equipment listed. Facemasks and self inflating bags (of appropriate sizes for all children) are provided by 32% and 42% of trusts respectively. Less than one third carry paediatric oximeter probes. Of the respondents, 16 (39%) trusts provide less than eight hours training in paediatric emergency medicine and five (12%) offer no training at all. Ongoing education varies from none to regular yearly updates. Conclusions-Paramedics seem ill prepared to deal with paediatric emergencies. Important deficiencies in the provision of equipment and training are noted. The results of this survey provide information against which improvements can be measured.