@article{ref1,
title="Pediatric prehospital medication dosing errors: a national survey of paramedics",
journal="Prehospital emergency care",
year="2017",
author="Hoyle, John D. and Crowe, Remle P. and Bentley, Melissa A. and Beltran, Gerald and Fales, William",
volume="21",
number="2",
pages="185-191",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Pediatric drug dosing errors occur at a high rate in the prehospital environment. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: To describe paramedic training and practice regarding pediatric drug administration, exposure to pediatric drug dose errors and safety culture among paramedics and EMS agencies in a national sample. <br><br>METHODS: An electronic questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 10,530 nationally certified paramedics. Descriptive statistics were calculated. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 1,043 (9.9%) responses and 1,014 paramedics met inclusion criteria. Nearly half (43.0%) were familiar with a case where EMS personnel delivered an incorrect pediatric drug dose. Over half (58.5%) believed their initial paramedic program did not include enough pediatric training. Two-thirds (66.0%) administered a pediatric drug dose within the past year. When estimating the weight of a pediatric patient, 54.2% used a length-based tape, while 35.8% asked the parent or guardian, and 2.5% relied on a smart phone application. Only 19.8% said their agency had an anonymous error-reporting system and 50.7% believed they could report an error without fear of disciplinary action. For solutions, 89.0% believed an EMS-specific Broselow-Luten Tape would be helpful, followed by drug dosing cards in milliliters (83.0%) and changing content of standardized pediatric courses to be more relevant (77.7%). <br><br>CONCLUSION: This national survey demonstrated a significant number of paramedics are aware of a pediatric dosing error, safety systems specific to pediatric patients are lacking, and that paramedics view pediatric drug cards and eliminating drug calculations as helpful. Pediatric drug-dosing safety in the prehospital environment can be improved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1090-3127",
doi="10.1080/10903127.2016.1227001",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2016.1227001"
}