Emergency Medical Services for Children
The Alaska EMSC program is housed in the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Division of Public Health, Section of Emergency Programs, EMS Unit, located in Juneau. The program is federally-funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resource Services Administration, Maternal Child Health Bureau, EMSC Program.
Since 1989, Federal EMSC funds have supported State EMS efforts to assure that the unique health care needs of the pediatric population are always considered. The Alaska EMSC program goals include: to improve operational capacity in the Alaska EMS system to provide pediatric emergency care;
- to improve pediatric emergency education for the certification of Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers; and
- to establish permanence of EMSC in the State EMS system.
The Federal EMSC Program has developed a set of Performance Measures to document activities and accomplishments of each state’s program in improving the delivery of emergency services to children. These measures provide an ongoing, systematic process for tracking the goals of the EMSC Program; allow for continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of key EMSC Program activities; identify potential areas of performance improvement; and more.
How Are EMSC Goals Accomplished?
The Alaska EMSC program is able to demonstrate progress towards the EMSC Performance Measures and achieve its goals through:
- An active EMSC Advisory Committee, which is a task force with representation throughout the state and from many disciplines;
- Working with the EMS agencies and hospitals;
- Collecting data to identify gaps in children’s emergency care; and
- Providing up-to-date information on children’s care.
EMS for Children Program
Renee Escamilla
(907) 465-5467