Intermittent Tiotropium Bromide for Episodic Wheezing: A Randomized Trial.

Background And Objectives: Options to treat and prevent episodic wheezing in children are scarce. Our objective was to assess the efficacy of intermittent tiotropium bromide treatment in early childhood episodic wheezing.

Methods: This 48-week, randomized, open-label, controlled, parallel-group trial was conducted at 4 hospitals in Finland.

Out-of-Hospital Seizures in Children: A Population-Based Study.

Objectives: Seizures seem to represent a frequent cause for pediatric emergency medical (EM) and emergency room (ER) contacts, but few population-based data are available. Our aim was to study the incidence, prehospital and ER treatment, and outcomes of pediatric seizures necessitating out-of-hospital care.

Methods: We studied the out-of-hospital evaluation procedures, ER treatment, diagnostics and 2-year prognosis of all cases of pediatric (0-16 years) seizures encountered by the emergency medical services (EMS) in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012 (population 603,968, pediatric population 92,742); 251 patients were encountered by the EMS, of which 220 seen at the ER.

Outcomes in children evaluated but not transported by ambulance personnel: retrospective cohort study.

Background: Not all children with an out-of-hospital emergency medical contact are transported by ambulance to the emergency department (ED). Non-transport means that after on-scene evaluation and possible treatment, ambulance personnel may advise the patient to monitor the situation at home or may refer the patient to seek medical attention by other means of transport. As selecting the right patients for ambulance transport is critical for optimising patient safety and resource use, we studied outcomes in non-transported children to identify possible risk groups that could benefit from ambulance transport.

Children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods have more out-of-hospital emergencies: a population-based study.

Objective: We wanted to study whether the socioeconomic status of a neighbourhood can predict the incidence of paediatric out-of-hospital emergencies.

Methods: We conducted a population-based prospective study with all paediatric (0-15 years) out-of-hospital emergencies in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012-2013. We compared the geographical distribution of the emergencies in the paediatric population with those of mean income, unemployment level and educational level.

Out-of-hospital paediatric emergencies: a prospective, population-based study.

Background: We wanted to study the incidence, distribution and characteristics of paediatric out-of-hospital emergency care on a population level. This knowledge could ameliorate the design and education of emergency medical services and their personnel.

Methods: We studied all (n = 1863) emergency medical services responses and the patient records for paediatric patients (age 0-16 years) in Helsinki, Finland (population 603,968, paediatric population 92,742) during a 12-month period (2012).