19 - Pediatrics

Pediatrics is the nineteenth title of Action Training Systems' Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) series, and SkillsTrain, the authorised ATS distributor in South Africa, supplies it locally as part of that series. It covers the assessment and emergency care of children, whose signs and needs differ from adults.

The title demonstrates patient assessment and physical examination for paediatric emergencies, where a child cannot always describe what is wrong. It presents the assessment and management factors for paediatric respiratory emergencies and demonstrates the management techniques, since breathing problems are a leading cause of child emergencies. It presents the causes of, assessment factors for, and management of shock and seizures in children, and describes the assessment and care of the paediatric trauma patient. The module is aimed at emergency medical responders and first responders who reach a patient before an ambulance crew who must adapt every skill to a smaller, faster deteriorating patient.

The content follows the United States National EMS Education Standards for the Emergency Medical Responder level. As an Action Training Systems EMS title it sits in a library that ATS accredits through CAPCE, the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education, where each online interactive course carries one hour of continuing education and counts as Distributive Education under the National Continued Competency Program of the NREMT, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. It uses the ATS teach, test and track model: the learner is assessed as they work through the material, and any section answered incorrectly is replayed before they can move on. The programme runs about 21 minutes and SkillsTrain supplies it on USB or as a classroom streaming option, on its own or as part of the complete 25 title Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) series, with an online interactive version deployable to a learning management system (LMS).

Within the same Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) series, SkillsTrain also supplies Obstetrics & Neonatal Care, Geriatrics and Trauma Patient Assessment, so the related modules can be studied together as one progression.