Matheson's bill would boost emergency medical services for children

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, reintroduced a bill Tuesday to continue a federal program designed to improve emergency medical services for children.

His Emergency Medical Services for Children Act passed the House in the last Congress but stalled in the Senate.

The EMSC program was originally created in 1984 to make grants to states or medical schools to expand and improve emergency medical care to children. Since its passage 25 years ago, Matheson said child injury death rates have dropped 40 percent.

"There are over 30 million child and teen visits annually to our nation's emergency rooms. Many are designed and equipped for adult health programs, rather than children's," Matheson said. "Only this program —EMSC —exists to promote improvements among health care facilities and staffs that handle life and death cases for these small patients."

The National EMSC Data Analysis Resource Center at the University of Utah is one of two major resource centers nationally to assist grantees. Also, the university operates the Central Data Management and Coordination Center that helps provide leadership and coordination for the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network.

"Injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children over the age of 1. In Utah, where much of the state is rural and emergency services can be miles away, it is vital that emergency personnel know how to deliver the best care quickly and expertly," Matheson said.

— Pat Reavy