Offline medical direction includes the development of guidelines, protocols, procedures, and policies, as well as planning for, training in, and evaluation of their use. Increase the number of States and the District of Columbia that have adopted and disseminated pediatric guidelines that categorize acute care facilities with the equipment, drugs, trained personnel, and other resources necessary to provide varying levels of pediatric emergency and critical care. All States and the District of Columbia. 11 States had adopted and disseminated pediatric guidelines that categorize acute care facilities with the equipment, drugs, trained personnel, and other resources necessary to provide varying levels of pediatric emergency and critical care in 1997. Emergency care for life-threatening pediatric illness and injury requires specialized resources, medical direction, equipment, drugs, trained personnel, and properly staffed and equipped hospitals.
Hospitals vary in terms of their readiness to treat children s emergencies.
If the hospitals are properly equipped and staffed, children frequently can receive the care that they need at local hospitals, but some children require the advanced care available only at regional specialty centers. Categorization is essentially an effort to identify the readiness and capability of a hospital and its staff to provide optimal emergency care.