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Control of pain and stress for children is a vital component of emergency medical care. Timely administration of analgesia affects the entire emergency medical experience and can have a lasting effect on a child' s and family' s reaction to current and future medical care. A systematic approach to pain management and anxiolysis, including staff education and protocol development, can provide comfort to children in the emergency setting and improve staff and family satisfaction. Pediatrics 2012;130:e1391-e1405 BACKGROUND A systematic approach to pain management is required to ensure relief of pain and anxiety for children who enter into the emergency medical system, which includes all emergency medical services (EMS) agencies, interfacility critical care transport teams, and the emergency department (ED). 1 The administration of appropriate analgesia in children varies by age as well as by training of the ED team (which includes physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners), however, and still lags behind analgesia provided for adults in similar situations. 2 Furthermore, neonates are at highest risk of receiving inadequate analgesia. 3,4 Encouragingly, improvements in the recognition and treatment of pain in children have led to changes in the approach to pain management for acutely ill and injured pediatric patients. 5 Studies have shown an increase in opiate use in children with fractures. [6][7][8] Recent advances in the approach and support for pediatric analgesia and sedation, as well as new products and devices, have improved the overall climate of the ED for patients and families in search of the "ouchless" ED. 5,9 Increased parental education regarding pain and sedation, physician comfort and desire to enhance patient satisfaction, and a quest to satisfy accreditation regulations have appropriately driven this effort. System-wide approaches for pain management awareness and strategies work best if they are woven into the fabric of the emergency medical system through education and protocol development. The purpose of this report was to provide information to optimize the comfort and minimize the distress of children and families as they are cared for in the emergency setting.

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Pediatric residents infrequently lead or participate in real or mock resuscitations. Although confident in performing many of the necessary resuscitation skills, few residents performed critical components of these skills correctly. Current pediatric residency training may not provide sufficient experience to develop adequate skills, fund of knowledge, or confidence needed for resuscitation.

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Emergency department (ED) health care professionals often care for patients with previously diagnosed psychiatric illnesses who are ill, injured, or having a behavioral crisis. In addition, ED personnel encounter children with psychiatric illnesses who may not present to the ED with overt mental health symptoms. Staff education and training regarding identification and management of pediatric mental health illness can help EDs overcome the perceived limitations of the setting that influence timely and comprehensive evaluation. In addition, ED physicians can inform and advocate for policy changes at local, state, and national levels that are needed to ensure comprehensive care of children with mental health illnesses. This report addresses the roles that the ED and ED health care professionals play in emergency mental health care of children and adolescents in the United States, which includes the stabilization and management of patients in mental health crisis, the discovery of mental illnesses and suicidal ideation in ED patients, and approaches to advocating for improved recognition and treatment of mental illnesses in children. The report also addresses special issues related to mental illness in the ED, such as minority populations, children with special health care needs, and children's mental health during and after disasters and trauma.

To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on pediatric residents' resuscitation fund of knowledge, technical skills, confidence, and overall performance.