Pediatrics 1: Intro, Airway, Respiratory, Cardiac, Neuro

Care of the critically ill child in the emergency room is often challenging. Fortunately, the majority of children who visit the ED are not suffering from life-threatening diseases, and those presentations are not the intent of this chapter. We will provide brief overviews of the presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of the most common life-threatening diseases in children and focus on providing tools that will help the emergency department team recognize children who are critically ill and in impending organic failure. We will highlight the importance of teamwork, including not only the ED team but also consulting pediatric specialists when caring for the critically ill child.