Paediatric major incident triage: A Delphi process to determine clinicians' attitudes and beliefs within the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Aim: Triage is key to effective management of major incidents, yet there is scarce evidence surrounding the optimal method of paediatric major incident triage (MIT). This study aimed to derive consensus on key components of paediatric MIT among healthcare professionals responsible for triage during paediatric major incidents.

Methods: Two-round online Delphi consensus study delivered July 2021-October 2021, including participants from pre-hospital and hospital specialities responsible for triage during paediatric major incidents.

Paediatric rhombencephalitis presenting with bradycardia: a good recovery despite cardiac involvement.

Rhombencephalitis is a rare condition, often caused by infection, commonly presenting with myoclonic jerks, ataxia and cranial nerve palsy. Typically, it has a high morbidity and mortality, with worse prognosis associated with cardiopulmonary involvement. Herein, we present the case of a 10-year-old boy, presenting with headache, vomiting, symptomatic bradycardia and rapidly progressing ophthalmoplegia from a sixth nerve palsy, without additional brainstem symptoms.

Knee pain: an unusual late complication of meningococcal septicaemia.

Meningococcal disease remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity in the paediatric population. Survivors of invasive meningococcal disease remain at risk from the long-term sequelae of microvascular disease. Chronic orthopaedic sequelae have been reported infrequently in the orthopaedic and radiology literature and there are no reports in the Emergency Medicine literature.

Pertussis requiring intensive care.

Objectives: To describe children with pertussis who require intensive care.

Design, Setting And Patients: An audit in Auckland, New Zealand, of pertussis admissions to the national paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from 1991 to 2003.

Results: 72 children, 97% of whom were <12 months old.

Superhero-related injuries in paediatrics: a case series.

Five cases of serious injuries to children wearing superhero costumes, involving extreme risk-taking behaviour, are presented here. Although children have always displayed behaviour seemingly unwise to the adult eye, the advent of superhero role models can give unrealistic expectations to the child, which may lead to serious injury. The children we saw have all had to contemplate on their way to hospital that they do not in fact possess superpowers.