Membership Development and Marketing Task Force
To expand membership orientation and leadership capacity to address the various components of TN EMSC including the state Committee on Pediatric Emergency Care (CoPEC).
CoPEC advises the Tennessee Department of Health's Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities and the EMS Board regarding pediatric emergency care. The task force also works to develop specific communication tools to drive and promote TN EMSC's mission to our members and communities
Disaster Task Force
To develop and integrate a statewide disaster plan for children.
Recent natural disasters and events of terrorism and war have made citizens and healthcare workers aware of the lack of pediatric emergency preparedness during these events. Children have many vulnerabilities that put them at higher risk during a disaster event due to the developmental process of children regarding mobility, speech, and the limited ability to follow multiple step directions. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “ In addition to the unique pediatric issues involved in general emergency preparedness, several additional issues related to terrorism preparedness must be considered, including the unique vulnerabilities of children to various agents as well as the limited availability of age- and weight-appropriate antidotes and treatments. Although children may respond more rapidly to therapeutic intervention, they are at the same time more susceptible to various agents and conditions and more likely to deteriorate if not monitored carefully.”
Diversified Funding Task Force
Secure diverse funding sources to increase revenues by 50%.
Exceed the National EMSC Performance Measures & Education Task Force
Statement of Direction: EMSC performance measures are part of the foundation for providing quality pediatric emergency care and to use education ( including publications) to support, develop, and disseminate current best practice for emergency medical services for children
The responsibility of the this task force is to develop and revise systems of acute and critical pediatric care. This can include systems of pediatric care within health care facilities (hospitals and emergency departments) as well as those of the emergency medical services (ambulance services). An example of this work is the recent revision of the Standards for Pediatric Emergency Care Facilities presented to the Tennessee Department of Health Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities in February 2008. The systems of pediatric care that this committee develops helps hospitals and ambulance services to provide a high level of care to the children of Tennessee. These systems help ensure that both properly trained health care providers (doctors, nurses, ambulance personnel, etc.) and special pediatric equipment are available to care for children who are sick.
The task force is made up of a multi-disciplinary group that strives to enhance the emergency and injury care for children in the state of Tennessee. This committee is comprised of physicians, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, parents, teachers, hospital administrators, etc. working together to help increase the knowledge base of care providers to the pediatric patients whether in the hospital, field, school, or home setting.
Our goal is to create and provide all levels and disciplines with pediatric specific education for the care of critically ill or injured children. With this pediatric specialty group we can evaluate needs and specific education to ensure that the most up to date and leading practices of pediatric medicine are taught and provided. We hope that by improving the access and quality of education about the specific differences of the pediatric patient, we can improve the outcomes of all our kids in Tennessee.
