[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 157 (Monday, September 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S6279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Schatz):
  S. 3482. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize 
the Emergency Medical Services for Children program; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I wish to speak about legislation to 
reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program 
administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration's 
Maternal and Child Health Bureau. I want to thank my fellow bill 
sponsors, Senators Casey and Schatz, for their dedication to improving 
children's health and for working with me to extend this important 
program once again.
  I am honored to have helped create the EMSC program with Senator 
Daniel Inouye in 1984, and I take great pride in the work that I have 
done since then to reauthorize it over the years. As we near the 35th 
anniversary of EMSC, we can look back on the great progress we have 
made. Indeed, we have made significant strides in assuring that 
emergency medical personnel and systems are trained to effectively 
treat pediatric patients while in transport to a medical facility.
  As we have said time and time again, children are not just small 
adults. They have different medical needs, presenting special 
challenges for emergency and trauma care providers. From smaller-sized 
medical equipment to different dosage requirements for medicines, 
pediatric patients have important physical, mental, and developmental 
differences from adults. It is the EMSC program that ensures state-of-
the-art emergency medical care for all sick or injured children and 
adolescents across the entire spectrum of care.
  My home State of Utah has played such an influential role with EMSC 
in advancing the level of emergency medical care for children. The 
University of Utah is home to the EMSC program's National Emergency 
Medical Services for Children Data Analysis Resource Center, which is 
critical to helping States to evaluate EMS system effectiveness and 
pediatric patient care. Also housed at the University of Utah is the 
Central Data Management Coordinating Center for the Pediatric Emergency 
Care Applied Research Network. The DCC serves as the central data 
repository for the PECARN, which conducts high-priority, multi-
institutional research on the prevention and management of acute 
illnesses and injuries in youth of all ages.
  Throughout its history, EMSC has received overwhelming bipartisan 
support. The program makes a large impact with a relatively small 
budget, aiding all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. 
territories in improving their EMS systems, and developing improved 
procedures and protocols for treating children. I urge my colleagues to 
support our reauthorization bill so that the EMSC program will continue 
to improve emergency medical care for children in the United States.
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