I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4290 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Emergency 
Medical Services for Children Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2014 
Mr. MATHESON (for himself and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the 
Emergency Medical Services for Children Program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wakefield Act of 
2014’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) There are approximately 26,000,000 child 
and adolescent visits to the Nation’s emergency de-
partments every year. 
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(2) Approximately 90 percent of children re-
quiring emergency care are seen in general hospitals, 
not in free standing children’s hospitals, with one- 
quarter to one-third of the patients being seen in 
hospitals with no separate pediatric ward. 
(3) Injury and poisoning combined are the most 
common reason for pediatric emergency department 
visits, accounting for nearly thirty percent of such 
visits, while respiratory disorders such as asthma ac-
count for another 26 percent of pediatric emergency 
department visits. 
(4) Up to one-quarter of children needing emer-
gency care have special health care needs due to un-
derlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabe-
tes, sickle-cell disease, low birth weight, and 
Broncho pulmonary dysplasia. 
(5) The Emergency Medical Services for Chil-
dren Program under section 1910 of the Public 
Health Service Act is the only Federal program that 
focuses specifically on improving the pediatric com-
ponents of the emergency medical services (EMS) 
system. 
(6) The Emergency Medical Services for Chil-
dren Program has, in the past and present, funded 
and supported pediatric emergency care improve-
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ment initiatives in every State and United States 
Territory to expand and improve emergency care for 
children who need treatment for life threatening ill-
nesses and injuries by— 
(A) completing the only national assess-
ment of pediatric pre-hospital emergency care 
in the Nation; 
(B) assessing the access to medical direc-
tion for emergency medical services providers 
treating and transporting pediatric patients, ap-
propriate pediatric equipment and supplies on 
ambulances to treat children, and availability of 
inter-facility transfer agreements and guidelines 
designed to expedite the transfer of pediatric 
patients to the most appropriate facility; 
(C) assuring that Basic and Advance Life 
Support providers receive pediatric education to 
maintain competencies necessary to treat pedi-
atric patients; and 
(D) addressing regionalization of care and 
telemedicine that allow for timely transfers or 
care delivery to critically ill or injured children 
in rural or tribal settings where specialty care 
is not readily available. 
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(7) The Emergency Medical Services for Chil-
dren Program is celebrating its 30th anniversary, 
marking three decades of driving key improvements 
in emergency medical services to children, and 
should continue its mission to reduce child and 
youth morbidity and mortality by supporting im-
provements in the quality of all emergency medical 
and emergency surgical care children receive. 
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL 
SERVICES FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM. 
Section 1910(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300w–9(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 
2014’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2014 through 
2019’’. 
Æ 
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