TEN-360: Critically Ill Child

You would not be alone if you find approaching the seriously ill child a little daunting. The workshop will consider how to approach the many challenges for managing the critically ill child (especially in setting where paediatric resuscitation is uncommon) including subtle clues for recognising serious / life threatening disease, physiological and anatomical considerations, how to estimate weight, drug dosing, selection and administration intravenous fluids, preparing for paediatric resuscitation, inclusion of parents/carers, retrieval/transfer, assessment and management of pain in the child, managing non-accidental injury and considerations with regard to individual/staff well being. Core skills training during the workshop includes basic airway management and ventilation in the child, set up/use of high flow nasal prong oxygen, paediatric vascular access and simulations focusing on the assessment/resuscitation of the deteriorating child. 

On day 1 we focus on Paediatric Resuscitation and consider the clinical clues and red flags for serious illness in children and the structured approach to assessment and resuscitation in a child. The day will draw on series of clinical cases to explore immediate life threatening conditions that may present with airway obstruction, severe respiratory distress and circulatory shock.

On day 2 we extend our focus on serious illness and explore the assessment, differential diagnosis and management of the child with life threatening Neurological Presentations such as altered conscious state, status epilepticus, BRUE, diabetic coma and closed head injury. The day features a discussion of the new technology rapidly evolving in the management of type 1 diabetes and explore how this may contribute to the presentation and management of complications. We conclude day 2 with a discussion on the assessment and management of pain in children and approaches to providing sedation to facilitate procedures. 

By the end of the two days you should be confident to recognise and initiate emergency management for the majority of paediatric emergencies you will encounter in your clinical practice.