KEMMERER — South Lincoln Hospital District (SLHD) is one of only 10 hospitals in Wyoming to earn pediatric readiness status. By obtaining the Wyoming Pediatric Emergency Recognition status, SLHD has shown its commitment to quality patient care and emergency preparedness for the pediatric population in its community.

This recognition is the culmination of patient care policies, specialized pediatric training, and a focus on ensuring that the emergency room is as prepared as it can be to receive pediatric emergencies from the community.

“This is something to be proud of and South Lincoln Hospital District is one of only 10 hospitals out of 29 in the state of Wyoming to receive this recognition for commitment to pediatric care.” EMSC Specialist Brad McKee from the Wyoming Office of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), said.

Wyoming Pediatric Emergency Recognition is part of the National Pediatric Readiness Project (NPRP) led by the EMSC Program in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Emergency Nurses Association.

This program empowers Emergency Departments (ED) to improve their capabilities to provide high quality care to children. This is a national effort to improve the quality of pediatric care in general EDs where 80% of children will be seen.

“Pediatric patients are often more difficult to treat than adults. They are often unable to provide a complete history or describe their conditions fully. Hospitals should have not only pediatric-specific equipment on hand but have pediatric-specific education and training,” Scott Logan, EMS program supervisor from the Wyoming Office of EMS, said.

Research has shown that high pediatric readiness contributes to lower mortality rates in ill and injured children.

This is one of multiple steps SLHD has taken to insure the hospital is prepared to receive pediatric patients from the community. SLHD’s Emergency Medicine PA Jay Fearnley introduced a valuable partnership between Primary Children’s Hospital and SLHD.

Primary Children’s Hospital ED physicians have assisted with South Lincoln Hospital District to provide outreach and simulation-based training to guide the team in pediatric readiness initiatives. The focus of this training is for providers, RNs, and ED support staff to provide high quality care to pediatric patients in the community.

“The team at Primary Children’s has been instrumental in providing valuable training.  In addition, they have helped with equipment review/recommendations for pediatric emergency care as well as treatment protocols for sick and injured children,” Fearnley said.

Officials said SLHD is doing all it can to be the hospital of choice in South Lincoln County for the whole family, addding that SLHD honors the trust the community gives it to care for emergency patients of all ages with a commitment to pediatric readiness and continual training and education of all ED staff.