Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-sh8wx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T06:25:10.043Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Emergency room requirements for children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2009

By
B. M. Phillips
Edited by
M. P. Ward Platt  and
R. A. Little
M. P. Ward Platt
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne
R. A. Little
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Get access

Summary

Definition

In the USA and Canada the hospital department designated for receiving acutely ill or injured children is known as the Emergency Room: in the UK we are more familiar with the terminology ‘Accident and Emergency department’, although the term Emergency department alone is becoming more common. This chapter will look at the needs of children in the emergency department with particular reference to trauma.

Background: children in Emergency departments

Data identified by the Charity Action for Sick Children (Action for Sick Children, 1994) shows the following in the UK:

One-third of all patients seen in Accident and Emergency departments are children.

Approximately 3 million children per year attend Accident and Emergency and for many this is their first experience of hospital.

Children are more likely to be admitted to hospital as an emergency than in a planned way.

More than half the admissions of under 5 year olds into hospital are emergencies.

In the UK most emergency care is given to children in general Accident and Emergency departments which treat all age groups. There are nine specialist consultant-led paediatric Accident and Emergency departments in the UK and three in Eire.

Type
Chapter
Information
Injury in the Young , pp. 10 - 19
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×