Faculty Bibliography

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Critical acyanotic congenital heart lesions are uncommon but potentially life-threatening causes of neonatal shock and cardiovascular collapse. OBJECTIVE:This review highlights key aspects of acyanotic CHD, including presentation, diagnosis, and management in the emergency department (ED), based on current evidence. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:Acyanotic CHD encompasses a number of conditions, including critical coarctation of the aorta (CoA), interrupted aortic arch (IAA), critical aortic stenosis (AS), and anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). These conditions should be considered in critically ill neonates presenting with shock and cardiovascular collapse, often without prominent cyanosis. Evaluation involves a thorough assessment of the patient's cardiovascular and respiratory status. Diagnostic tools include pulse oximetry, laboratory testing, electrocardiogram, chest radiograph, and ultrasonography. Management requires prompt recognition and hemodynamic stabilization, which may involve the administration of prostaglandin, vasoactive/inotropic agents, and airway management. Expert consultation and coordination of transfer to a tertiary or quaternary care center are crucial. Surgical repair serves as the definitive treatment. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:A thorough understanding of acyanotic congenital heart disease is essential for emergency clinicians to effectively diagnose and manage these potentially life-threatening conditions.

BACKGROUND:Families overwhelmingly want to be present during pediatric resuscitations, and their presence offers myriad benefits. However, there is little evidence on how to teach and assess key patient- and family-centered communication behaviors. Our objective was to apply a modified Delphi methodology to develop and refine a simulation-based assessment tool focusing on crucial behaviors for healthcare providers providing emotional support to patients and families during pediatric medical resuscitations. METHODS:We identified 4 behavioral domains and 14 subdomains through a literature review, focus groups with our institution's Family and Youth Advisory Councils, and adaptation of existing simulation-based communication assessment tools. A panel of 9 national experts conducted rounds of iterative revision and rating of candidate behaviors for inclusion, and we calculated mean approval ratings (1 = Do not include; 2 = Include with modifications; 3 = Include as is) for each subdomain. RESULTS:Experts engaged in 5 iterative rounds of revision. None of the candidate behaviors were eliminated, and 1 ("Option to step out") was added to the "Respect and Value" domain. There was near-perfect consensus on the language of the final tool, with mean approval scores of 3.0 for all but 1 subdomain ("Introductions"), which had a mean score of 2.83 for minor grammatical edits; these were incorporated in the final assessment tool. CONCLUSIONS:We created a novel simulation assessment tool based on a literature review, key stakeholder input, and a consensus of national experts through a modified Delphi method. Our final simulation assessment tool is behaviorally anchored, can be completed by a simulated participant or observer, and may serve to educate healthcare teams engaged in pediatric resuscitations regarding patient- and family-centered communication.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Cyanotic critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is a serious condition associated with high rate of morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE:This review highlights key aspects of CCHD, including presentation, diagnosis, and management in the emergency department (ED), based on current evidence. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:CCHD encompasses several conditions, including truncus arteriosus, dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA), tricuspid atresia, tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR), Ebstein's anomaly, critical pulmonary stenosis, and hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). These conditions should be considered in critically ill neonates presenting with shock and cyanosis. Evaluation involves a thorough assessment of the patient's cardiovascular and respiratory status. Diagnostic tools include pulse oximetry, laboratory testing, electrocardiogram, chest radiography, and ultrasonography. Management requires prompt recognition and hemodynamic stabilization, which may involve the administration of antibiotics, prostaglandins, vasoactive/inotropic agents, and airway management. Expert consultation and coordination of transfer to a tertiary or quaternary care center are crucial. Surgical repair serves as the definitive treatment. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:A thorough understanding of cyanotic congenital heart disease is essential for emergency clinicians to effectively diagnose and manage this potentially life-threatening condition.

BACKGROUND:Transitions of care are a leading threat to patient safety. Vulnerabilities are intensified in emergency department (ED)-to-inpatient settings. A structure to identify and visualize high-risk patients, coupled with a process for interdisciplinary huddle prior to transport, can improve patient outcomes. METHODS:We conducted a quality improvement initiative within a tertiary-care, academic, pediatric ED. Children with respiratory disease requiring oxygen were identified to be high risk for decompensation. Digital mapping of patient data was established for clinician visibility of high-risk patients using a track-board icon in the electronic health record (EHR). We implemented interdisciplinary bedside huddles prior to ED departure. Outcome measures included escalations to advanced respiratory support (ie, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation or intubation), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) upgrades, or rapid response systems (RRS) activations within 24 hours. Our process measure was proportion of patients with huddle completion. Our balancing measure was time from bed assignment to ED departure. Statistical process control charts were used to analyze temporal changes. RESULTS:Huddles were performed on 80% of high-risk respiratory patients. We observed a 53.1% reduction in advanced respiratory interventions, a 57.8% reduction in PICU upgrades, and a 59.8% reduction in RRS activations. There was no change in time from bed assignment to ED departure. CONCLUSIONS:Through risk stratification, EHR visualizations, and interdisciplinary huddles, we achieved improved outcomes for pediatric patients. This initiative mitigates risk beyond ED care, with significant implications on hospital resources and patient safety.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) fellows are expected to perform many procedures during their fellowship, but they often have limited opportunities to practice rare procedures. The number of procedures required to achieve competence remains unclear; however, research suggests that increased practice correlates with skill development. The objective of this study is to quantify the frequency of procedures performed by fellows. Also, we describe how programs currently track their trainees' experiences. METHODS:This was a retrospective, multicenter, cross-sectional, descriptive study exploring procedures performed by PEM fellows enrolled in ACGME-accredited programs between July 2019 and June 2020. Fellow and program demographics were collected. We analyzed procedural tracking collected through self-reported logs and documentation within the electronic medical record. In addition, we explored how programs currently track these experiences. Procedures were standardized based on the ACGME list of required procedures. RESULTS:Eleven fellowship programs submitted the self-reported procedure logs of 104 fellows. Of those, 2 sites reported electronic medical record-based logs. The most frequently documented procedures included medical and trauma resuscitations, procedural sedations, and intubations. The most infrequently reported were nasal packing for nosebleeds and cardiac pacing. Most participating programs tracked experiences through fellow self-report and many offer opportunities for faculty to assess competence. CONCLUSIONS:PEM fellows do not consistently report performing all ACGME-required procedures during the fellowship. In addition, there is significant variation in how fellowship programs track trainees' procedural experiences. This study may inform the development of supplemental educational curricula and the potential revision of the ACGME list of required procedures. Future research could focus on assessing procedural competence.

Simulation-based health professions educators can advance diversity, equity, and inclusion by cultivating structural competency, which is the trained ability to discern inequity not only at an individual level, but also at organizational, community, and societal levels. This commentary introduces Metzl and Hansen's Five-Step Model for structural competency and discusses its unique applicability to the metacognitive underpinnings of simulation-based health professions education. We offer a pragmatic guide for simulation-based health professions educators to collaboratively design learning objectives, simulation cases, character sketches, and debriefs in which structural competency is a simulation performance domain, alongside patient management, resource usage, leadership, situational awareness, teamwork, and/or communication. Our overall goal is to promote a paradigm shift in which educators are empowered to partner with patients, colleagues, and communities to recognize, learn about, and challenge the factors driving health inequities; a skill that may be applied to a broad range of health professions education within and outside of simulation.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:Family presence during pediatric medical resuscitation has myriad benefits. However, there is significant heterogeneity in provider acceptance and implementation of the family support role. We designed this curriculum to teach all members of the health care team best practices in the Family Presence Facilitator (FPF) role during pediatric medical resuscitations. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:We applied Kern's six-step approach to develop an FPF curriculum comprising didactic and interactive elements, along with training for simulated participants. We implemented the curriculum through (a) live sessions (30-minute didactic or 90-minute workshop) for learners; (b) a 20-minute asynchronous version of the didactic curriculum for self-directed learning; and (c) a 1-hour, monthly, in situ simulation curriculum in a pediatric emergency department setting. Curriculum evaluation surveys queried self-reported engagement, satisfaction, relevance, confidence, commitment, knowledge, skills, and attitudes in a retrospective pre/post format. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:We collected data from 153 learners, including attendings, fellows, residents, advanced practice providers, medical students, and child life specialists, between October 2022 and September 2023. Only 22% of participants had received similar prior training. One hundred percent of learners found the curriculum enjoyable and engaging; learners also agreed the curriculum improved their knowledge and skills in providing empathetic and respectful communication (99%); nonspeculative, clear information (100%); and nonverbal support (99%). Of respondents, 100% believed the curriculum would improve the patient care experience. DISCUSSION/UNASSIGNED:Facilitating family presence during pediatric medical resuscitations is a crucial skill. Our curriculum improves self-reported confidence, knowledge, and skills among interprofessional learners. Next steps include expanding this curriculum beyond the pediatric setting.

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common congenital heart lesion among children. In most cases, however, it is identified and corrected in childhood, before long-term sequelae such as pulmonary hypertension develop. In this case report, we present a young man with an undiagnosed VSD with consequent Eisenmenger syndrome who initially presented to medical attention with diplopia found to be caused by cerebral infarcts.

INTRODUCTION:The use of simulation to develop clinical reasoning and medical decision-making skills for common events is poorly established. Validated head trauma rules help identify children at low risk for clinically important traumatic brain injury and guide the need for neuroimaging. We predicted that interns trained using a high-fidelity, immersive simulation would understand and apply these rules better than those trained using a case-based discussion. Our primary outcomes were to determine the effectiveness of a single targeted intervention on an intern's ability to learn and apply the rules. METHODS:This was a prospective randomized controlled trial. Interns were randomized to participate in either a manikin-based simulation or a case discussion. Knowledge and application of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Head Trauma tool were assessed both under testing conditions using standardized vignettes and in clinical encounters. In both settings, interns completed a validated assessment tool to test their knowledge and application of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Head Trauma tool when assessing patients with head injury. RESULTS:Under testing conditions, both being in the simulation group and shorter time from training were independently associated with higher score under testing conditions using standardized vignettes (P = 0.038 and P < 0.001), but not with clinical encounters. CONCLUSIONS:Interns exposed to manikin-based simulation training demonstrated performance competencies that are better than those in the case discussion group under testing conditions using standardized vignettes, but not in real clinical encounters. This study suggests that information delivery and comprehension may be improved through a single targeted simulation-based education.