Milestones Newsletter | Issue 8, Fall 2024
Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions among children and a leading cause of disability. It is also high-volume condition for emergency departments (EDs) and in-patient units across all levels of care, especially during the early fall due to school openings and an increase in infectious diseases and allergens.
To help healthcare providers prepare for paediatric asthma ED visits, the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH) and the Lung Health Foundation partnered to publish an updated Clinical Handbook for Paediatric Asthma.
Released in 2021, the updated Clinical Handbook offers evidence-based recommendations for managing paediatric asthma in EDs and in-patient settings – from initial treatment in the ED to follow-up care after discharge. It’s also intended to:
- Help reduce variations in asthma diagnosis and the treatment of in-patients with asthma
- Promote standardized assessments of severity and severity-based treatment
- Help reduce inappropriate ED revisits and in-patient admissions
- Ensure that, upon discharge, children and their parents/caregivers receive asthma management education and instructions for appropriate follow-up and referrals in an Asthma Action Plan.
The Clinical Handbook includes the Pediatric Emergency Department Asthma Clinical Pathway (P-EDASP) along with implementation tools, which provide severity-based approaches for treatment of paediatric asthma in the ED.
We encourage you to share the Clinical Handbook with your networks.
This article was published in Milestones - PCMCH's official quarterly newsletter. Subscribe to Milestones.