Publications by authors named "Susan Fuchs"

Lyme disease, also called Lyme borreliosis, is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (B burgdorferi) in the Upper Atlantic Coast and Borrelia mayonii in the Upper Midwest and West Coast. It can cause a range of manifestations including erythema migrans, cranial nerve palsies, meningitis, carditis, and arthritis. Recent guidelines advocate for outpatient treatment for many of these conditions.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics established the Pediatric Education for Prehospital Professionals (PEPP) Course in 1998. A national PEPP Task Force rolled out the first courses in 2000, and PEPP rapidly became a foundational pediatric knowledge source in prehospital education. The backbone of the PEPP course is the pediatric assessment triangle (PAT), a simple assessment tool to help determine if an infant or child is "sick" or "not sick", to identify the likely type of pathophysiology, and to gauge the urgency for intervention.

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Children with chronic medical conditions rely on complex management plans for problems that cause them to be at increased risk for suboptimal outcomes in emergency situations. The emergency information form (EIF) is a medical summary that provides rapid access to critical information to physicians and other members of the health care team so that optimal emergency medical care can be provided. This statement describes an updated approach to EIFs and the information they contain.

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This article aims to provide guidance to health care workers for the provision of basic and advanced life support to children and neonates with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It aligns with the 2020 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular care while providing strategies for reducing risk of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to health care providers. Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and cardiac arrest should receive chest compressions and defibrillation, when indicated, as soon as possible.

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Tick-Borne Infections.

Pediatr Emerg Care

November 2021

There are many tick-borne infections that affect children and adolescents in the United States. These illnesses often begin with non-specific flulike symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, and myalgia, so obtaining a good travel history is important. Most people do not even realize that they were bitten by a tick, so identification of the specific tick is not necessary.

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The emergency medical services for children (EMSC) program was established in 1984 to improve the quality of emergency care for children. Since that time, all 50 states and Washington, DC, 5 US territories, and 3 freely associated states have received federal funding to achieve this goal. There have been many unique training and education programs developed, along with quality improvement and pediatric research initiatives.

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Tourniquets in Major Extremity Trauma.

Pediatr Emerg Care

October 2020

Much has been learned about hemorrhage control using tourniquets from wartime experiences, and recent mass casualty events. The use of tourniquets for extremity hemorrhage is a lifesaving skill for all providers to learn.

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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurs frequently among people of all ages, including more than 6000 children annually. Pediatric cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital setting is a stressful event for family, friends, caregivers, classmates, school personnel, and witnesses. Immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators are associated with improved survival in adults.

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Pediatric cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital setting is a traumatic event for family, friends, caregivers, classmates, and school personnel. Immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automatic external defibrillators have been shown to improve survival in adults. There is some evidence to show improved survival in children who receive immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

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Gastrostomy Tubes: Care and Feeding.

Pediatr Emerg Care

December 2017

Parents often bring their children to the emergency department for adverse events with their child's gastrostomy tube or button. This review will discuss the possible complications and the methods to handle them.

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Pediatric Life Support (PLS) courses and instructional programs are educational tools developed to teach resuscitation and stabilization of children who are critically ill or injured. A number of PLS courses have been developed by national professional organizations for different health care providers (eg, pediatricians, emergency physicians, other physicians, prehospital professionals, pediatric and emergency advanced practice nurses, physician assistants). PLS courses and programs have attempted to clarify and standardize assessment and treatment approaches for clinical practice in emergency, trauma, and critical care.

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The purpose of this survey and record review was to characterize emergency department management of unprovoked seizures and status epilepticus in children in Illinois. The survey was sent to 119 participating emergency departments in the Emergency Medical Services for Children program; responses were received from 103 (88% response rate). Only 44% of the emergency departments had a documented protocol for seizure management.

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Workup of simple febrile seizures (SFS) has changed as the American Academy of Pediatrics made revisions to practice guidelines. In 2011, revisions were made regarding need for lumbar puncture (LP) as part of the SFS workup. This study surveyed more than 100 emergency departments regarding workup of children with SFS and performed a medical record review of workup that was performed.

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Objective: There is a need for rigorously designed pediatric disaster triage (PDT) training simulations for paramedics. First, we sought to design three multiple patient incidents for EMS provider training simulations. Our second objective was to determine the appropriate interventions and triage level for each victim in each of the simulations and develop evaluation instruments for each simulation.

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Objective: The objective of this guideline is to recommend evidence-based practices for timely prehospital pediatric seizure cessation while avoiding respiratory depression and seizure recurrence.

Methods: A multidisciplinary panel was chosen based on expertise in pediatric emergency medicine, prehospital medicine, and/or evidence-based guideline development. The panel followed the National Prehospital EBG Model using the GRADE methodology to formulate questions, retrieve evidence, appraise the evidence, and formulate recommendations.

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Objective: To describe pediatric patients transported by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network's (PECARN's) affiliated emergency medical service (EMS) agencies and the process of submitting and aggregating data from diverse agencies.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic patient care data from PECARN's partner EMS agencies. Data were collected on all EMS runs for patients less than 19 years old treated between 2004 and 2006.

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Pediatric office emergencies.

Pediatr Clin North Am

October 2013

Pediatricians regularly see emergencies in the office, or children that require transfer to an emergency department, or hospitalization. An office self-assessment is the first step in determining how to prepare for an emergency. The use of mock codes and skill drills make office personnel feel less anxious about medical emergencies.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the management of pediatric patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) presenting to emergency departments (EDs) participating in the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Facility Recognition program.

Methods: In 2010, Illinois EMSC conducted a survey (including case scenarios) and medical record review regarding management of pediatric patients with DKA. Data were submitted by 116 EDs.

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Disasters affect all ages of patients from the newborn to the elderly. Disaster emergency management includes all phases of comprehensive emergency management from preparedness to response and recovery. Disaster planning and management has frequently overlooked the unique issues involved in dealing with the pediatric victims of a disaster.

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Pediatric observation units (OUs) are hospital areas used to provide medical evaluation and/or management for health-related conditions in children, typically for a well-defined, brief period. Pediatric OUs represent an emerging alternative site of care for selected groups of children who historically may have received their treatment in an ambulatory setting, emergency department, or hospital-based inpatient unit. This clinical report provides an overview of pediatric OUs, including the definitions and operating characteristics of different types of OUs, quality considerations and coding for observation services, and the effect of OUs on inpatient hospital utilization.

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