WSJ: Some ERs Are Kid Death Traps

And we thought hospitals weren’t prepared to handle the inevitable next pandemic, now we learn many ERs aren’t prepared to treat kid illnesses showing up at their doors … and many are even dying because of it.

So, at least, alleges the WSJ article titled, “Children Are Dying in Ill-Prepared Emergency Rooms Across America.” According to the newspaper, “Hospitals & regulators have done little to ensure ERs are ready to treat children in emergencies, while researchers prove taking basic steps can save lives.” The WSJ found that “only about 14% of emergency departments nationwide have been certified as ready to treat kids or are children’s hospitals specializing in treating young patients.” Meanwhile, “many emergency doctors don’t treat enough children to be able to spot life-threatening illnesses obscured by run-of-the-mill symptoms.” As a result, the allegation goes, “hundreds of children die or are left severely injured around the country each year after they are rushed to hospital emergency rooms …”

Not that this news is anything new. “Doctors, health authorities & policy makers have known – and warned – of these failures for decades.” We all now know what the lack of preparation for the pandemic did in the disease’s earliest stages to take many adult lives, especially among the elderly & other “at risk” populations. Now, says the WSJ, “research shows … about 1,440 children died from 2012 to 2017 because the emergency rooms that treated them weren’t well prepared.” It was back in 2019 that another study found “children are 4 times as likely to die in less-prepared ERs.” True, not all hospitals are created equal & as some argue “it’s unreasonable to expect every ER to have the pediatric expertise of a state-of-the art children’s hospital.” Yet, really, EVERY ER should meet minimal standards for all it takes in or have the brains to get them to a hospital that has the special skills needed.

Davd Soul