1.
This Act may be cited as the
Wakefield Act
.
2.
(a)
Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)
There are 31,000,000 child
and adolescent visits to the nation's emergency departments every year, with
children under the age of 3 years accounting for most of these visits.
(2)
Ninety percent of children
requiring emergency care are seen in general hospitals, not in free-standing
children's hospitals, with one-quarter to one-third of the patients being
children in the typical general hospital emergency department.
(3)
Severe asthma and respiratory
distress are the most common emergencies for pediatric patients, representing
nearly one-third of all hospitalizations among children under the age of 15
years, while seizures, shock, and airway obstruction are other common pediatric
emergencies, followed by cardiac arrest and severe trauma.
(4)
Up to 20 percent of children
needing emergency care have underlying medical conditions such as asthma,
diabetes, sickle-cell disease, low birthweight, and bronchopulmonary
dysplasia.
(5)
Significant gaps remain in
emergency medical care delivered to children, with 43 percent of hospitals
lacking cervical collars (used to stabilize spinal injuries) for infants, less
than half (47 percent) of hospitals with no pediatric intensive care unit
having a written transfer agreement with a hospital that does have such a unit,
one-third of States lacking a physician available on-call 24 hours a day to
provide medical direction to emergency medical technicians or other
non-physician emergency care providers, and even those States with such
availability lacking full State coverage.
(6)
Providers must be educated
and trained to manage children’s unique physical and psychological needs in
emergency situations, and emergency systems must be equipped with the resources
needed to care for this especially vulnerable population.
(7)
The Emergency Medical
Services for Children (EMSC) Program under section 1910 of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300w–9) is the only Federal program that focuses
specifically on improving the pediatric components of emergency medical
care.
(8)
The EMSC Program promotes the
nationwide exchange of pediatric emergency medical care knowledge and
collaboration by those with an interest in such care and is depended upon by
Federal agencies and national organizations to ensure that this exchange of
knowledge and collaboration takes place.
(9)
The EMSC Program also
supports a multi-institutional network for research in pediatric emergency
medicine, thus allowing providers to rely on evidence rather than anecdotal
experience when treating ill or injured children.
(10)
States are better equipped to
handle occurrences of critical or traumatic injury due to advances fostered by
the EMSC program, with—
(A)
forty-eight States
identifying and requiring all EMSC-recommended pediatric equipment on Advanced
Life Support ambulances;
(B)
forty-four States employing
pediatric protocols for medical direction;
(C)
forty-one States utilizing
pediatric guidelines for acute care facility identification, ensuring that
children get to the right hospital in a timely manner; and
(D)
thirty-six of the forty-two
States having statewide computerized data collection systems now producing
reports on pediatric emergency medical services using statewide data.
(11)
Systems of care must be
continually maintained, updated, and improved to ensure that research is
translated into practice, best practices are adopted, training is current, and
standards and protocols are appropriate.
(12)
Now celebrating its twentieth
anniversary, the EMSC Program has proven effective over two decades in driving
key improvements in emergency medical services to children, and should continue
its mission to reduce child and youth morbidity and mortality by supporting
improvements in the quality of all emergency medical and emergency surgical
care children receive.
(b)
It is the purpose of this Act
to reduce child and youth morbidity and mortality by supporting improvements in
the quality of all emergency medical care children receive.
3.
Reauthorization of emergency medical services for children
program
Section 1910 of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300w–9) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a), by
striking 3-year period (with an optional 4th year
and inserting
4-year period (with an optional 5th year
;
(2)
in subsection (d)—
(A)
by striking and such
sums
and inserting such sums
; and
(B)
by inserting before the
period the following: $23,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as
may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010
;
(3)
by redesignating subsections
(b) through (d) as subsections (c) through (e), respectively; and
(4)
by inserting after subsection
(a) the following:
(b)(1)
The purpose of the program
established under this section is to reduce child and youth morbidity and
mortality by supporting improvements in the quality of all emergency medical
care children receive, through the promotion of projects focused on the
expansion and improvement of such services, including those in rural areas and
those for children with special healthcare needs. In carrying out this purpose,
the Secretary shall support emergency medical services for children by
supporting projects that—
(A)
develop and present
scientific evidence;
(B)
promote existing and
innovative technologies appropriate for the care of children: or
(C)
provide information on
health outcomes and effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
(2)
The program established
under this section shall—
(A)
strive to enhance the
pediatric capability of emergency medical service systems originally designed
primarily for adults; and
(B)
in order to avoid
duplication and ensure that Federal resources are used efficiently and
effectively, be coordinated with all research, evaluations, and awards related
to emergency medical services for children undertaken and supported by the
Federal Government.
.