Photo Credit: Gorodenkoff

The following is a summary of “A National Simulation-Based Study of Pediatric Critical Care Transport Teams Performance,” published in the September 2024 issue of Pediatrics by Montgomery et al.

To evaluate the performance of pediatric critical care transport (CCT) teams within a simulated environment, this study investigates how various team and center characteristics influence this performance. The research was conducted as an observational, multi-center, simulation-based study involving a national cohort of pediatric transport centers. Teams engaged in simulations of three critical scenarios: non-accidental abusive head injury (NAT), sepsis, and cardiac arrest. The primary outcome measure was the simulation performance score, while secondary outcomes included the correlation between performance and specific center and team attributes. 

The study recruited 78 transport teams, comprising 196 members, from 12 CCT centers. Performance scores, as measured on developed performance scales, were 89% (IQR 78-100) for NAT, 63.3% (IQR 45.5-81.8) for sepsis, and 86.6% (IQR 66.6-93.3) for cardiac arrest. Multivariable analyses indicated that teams featuring a respiratory therapist (RT) or paramedic exhibited higher performance scores, with increases of 0.5 points (95% CI: 0.13, 0.86) and 0.49 points (95% CI: 0.1, 0.88), respectively. Additionally, dedicated pediatric teams showed an average performance score increase of 0.37 points (95% CI: 0.06, 0.68). Each additional year of program age was associated with a 0.04-point increase in performance (95% CI: 0.02, 0.06). 

These findings suggest that the presence of RTs and paramedics, dedicated pediatric teams, and increased program age are positively associated with enhanced simulation performance. This insight empowers us to make practical changes in pediatric CCT practices, enhancing the quality of care during interfacility transports and motivating us to strive for continuous improvement.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022347624004062