Improve your skills in assessing and managing paediatric clinical emergencies.

The PACED course is ideal for all healthcare professionals seeking to improve their skills in assessing and managing paediatric clinical emergencies. Through a series of 4 webinars, you will delve into a comprehensive exploration of paediatric emergencies, factors for clinical deterioration, and effective patient assessment.

Key learning areas will cover:

• paediatric anatomy and physiology: understand the key differences compared to adults
• pathways of deterioration in childhood illness: examine how physiological factors lead to deterioration
• physiological parameters: understand how to monitor and interpret vital signs in paediatric patients
• common causes of hospital presentations: identify and know how to manage common paediatric emergencies
• case studies: follow clinical cases from presentation to deterioration and intervention, including anaphylaxis scenarios

Over 4 live webinars, expert paediatric critical care educator, Grace Larson (RN, BN, CertIV(TAE), GradDipClinNurs(PaedCritCare), MAdNursPrac(PaedCritCare)), will present 9 case studies:

Webinar 1: May 13th 2-3pm AEST

• respiratory distress
• exacerbation of asthma

Webinar 2: May 20th 2-3pm AEST

• seizures
• poisoning

Webinar 3: May 27th 2-3pm AEST

• head trauma
• massive bleeding

Webinar 4: June 3rd 2-3pm AEST

• dehydration
• congenital heart defects
• anaphylaxis

 At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:

• identify the early warning signs and common indicators of clinical deterioration in children, including vital sign changes, behavioural shifts, and respiratory distress
• understand age-specific physiology, vital signs, and how the presentation of clinical deterioration can vary between infants, toddlers, and older children
• utilise structured frameworks such as the paediatric assessment triangle (PAT) or ABCDE approach for rapid assessment, to quickly identify children at risk of deterioration
• employ effective communication strategies for escalating care, including using standardised tools like ISBAR (identify, situation, background, assessment, recommendation) to engage other health professionals promptly when paediatric deterioration is identified
• initiate appropriate immediate interventions to stabilise a deteriorating child, including emergency response protocols and basic life support measures
• apply critical thinking and decision-making skills in the context of managing paediatric deterioration
• In addition to the 1-hour live webinars, this course is supported by self-paced eLearning modules and videos demonstrating key clinical skills.