Children with Medical Complexity in the Emergency Department: A Case-Based Guide

Emergency  medicine (EM) physicians practicing in the community are often the  first providers to care for acutely ill children with medical complexity  (CMC) as they arrive to their local emergency departments, which are  often outside of major cities and may be in underserved areas. While  many of these patients are ultimately transferred to tertiary care  facilities at major medical centers such as theirs, EM physicians play a  critical role in acutely stabilizing these patients prior to transfer  or discharge home. This is despite often not having received specific  education in this patient population during their training. 

The  purpose of this text is to provide an educational tool for physicians  and other health care providers in the acute care of CMC. Comprised of  clinical cases, it is a valuable resource for both early learners (e.g.,  pediatric residents, emergency medicine residents) as well as providers  in practice who may see these patients regularly in the ED but did not  receive extensive training on the care of CMC. Each chapter includes  figures/tables/illustrations to aid in learning and ends with a summary  in the form of 3-5 Take-Away Pearls.  

Edited by three board-certified pediatric hospitalists, Children with Medical Complexity in the Emergency Department serves  to help equip emergency medicine practitioners to provide optimal care  for the most vulnerable and medically fragile patients in the  communities they serve in order to enhance patient outcomes and provide a  better experience for the patients’ families. Chapter authors have been  recruited from the pediatrics and emergency medicine fields, including  generalists as well as subspecialty experts in the areas of transplant  medicine, gastroenterology, nephrology, and many more.