This program, sponsored through the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, emphasizes the need for states to ensure the availability of appropriate resources and adequately trained personnel in order to effectively meet the emergency care needs of the critically ill and injured child. Federal funds are available to states to assist in improving the pediatric component of their EMS system. EMSC is an essential component of Emergency Medical Services or EMS systems. To be effective and operate most efficiently, EMSC networks should be fully integrated into existing EMS services. There are several reasons that children need specialized emergency care.
Children are physically, psychologically, and physiologically different from adults.
EMSC advocates work to address these differences when emergency care is being delivered. Emergency care providers must be trained, not only to recognize the different ways that children's bodies respond to traumatic injury and illness, but also to communicate and comfort these children effectively. Since children are smaller than adults, their equipment needs to be sized accordingly. While most hospitals and emergency care personnel can deliver competent, basic emergency care, EMSC is aimed at improving the capacity of emergency services to provide needed care. The initial goal is to prevent childhood illness or injury.