[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S3767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM

  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the importance 
of the Emergency Medical Service for Children, or EMSC, Program. 
Recently, we celebrated National EMSC Day, an annual event raising 
awareness about the need to improve and expand specialized care for 
children in the prehospital and acute care settings.
  The EMSC Program holds great personal importance to me. More than 30 
years ago, Senator Hatch and I, on a bipartisan basis, took note of the 
systematic problems and deficiencies surrounding emergency care for 
children. With these deficiencies in mind, we authored legislation to 
address the gaps in emergency care for children. Through the support of 
the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Surgeon General the bill 
became law in 1984 authorizing Federal funding for EMSC.
  For over 25 years now, EMSC, which is administered by the Health 
Resources and Services Administration's, HRSA, Maternal and Child 
Health Bureau, has been doing truly amazing work. With just over $20 
million a year, EMSC works with all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, and the U.S. territories to educate emergency medical 
personnel. In addition to educating and training health care 
professionals, EMSC supports research at leading governmental and 
academic institutions so that our children are treated with cutting-
edge technology and services.
  The EMSC Program addresses the entire continuum of pediatric 
emergency services, from injury prevention and EMS access through out-
of-hospital and emergency department care, intensive care, 
rehabilitation, and reintegration into the community, while ensuring 
the ongoing involvement of the child's primary care physician. It 
serves the unique needs of children in a way no other program can. Over 
the years, we have also funded various projects for emergency care. I 
thank my colleagues for supporting the inclusion of a 5-year 
reauthorization of the EMSC Program in the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act.
  In recognition of all that EMSC has done and will continue to do for 
this Nation's children, several experts gathered on Capitol Hill last 
month to hold an educational briefing in conjunction with EMSC Day. 
Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, staff heard from Dr. 
Elizabeth Edgerton, the new branch chief for EMSC and injury prevention 
at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at HRSA, who described the EMSC 
Program and what it has accomplished. Katherine Dixon Hert, EMSC 
program manager, Office of EMS and Trauma at the Alabama Department of 
Public Health, recounted the devastation of the recent tornadoes that 
swept through the State of Alabama; the challenges in caring for 
children often separated from their parents; and the pediatric deaths 
that occurred. Lastly, Joseph Wright, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., principal 
investigator and medical director of the EMSC National Resource Center, 
shared his experience of ``growing up'' with the EMSC Program as part 
of the original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency 
physicians in the United States.
  I do not know a parent or grandparent who would advocate for anything 
but the best care of our children during an emergency. The EMSC Program 
has filled a void that existed within the EMS system prior to its 
inception. Many experts have identified the need for a lead agency for 
EMS in the U.S. While such a lead agency could improve optimal 
emergency care and response, any reorganization of Federal EMS Programs 
must maintain the EMSC Program as a freestanding program. Without the 
EMSC Program, children's medical and treatment needs will not be met. I 
would like to honor and thank the many hard-working Americans that work 
daily to serve and save our children.

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