Thyrotoxicosis in a Postpartum Adolescent: A Simulation Case for Emergency Medicine Providers

De-escalation of the Agitated Pediatric Patient: A Standardized Patient Case for Pediatric Residents

Introduction

Over the past 5 years, pediatric mental health emergencies requiring emergency safety evaluations and inpatient boarding of pediatric patients requiring psychiatric admission have increased. Pediatric trainees must learn to effectively and safely de-escalate a patient with agitated or aggressive behavior, as mental health patients take up a larger proportion of their patient population. This standardized patient case addresses gaps in knowledge and skills to ameliorate the care of children and adolescents with behavioral crises in the hospital.

Methods

Resident learners were presented with a teenage patient admitted to the hospital and awaiting inpatient psychiatric placement for suicidal ideation who became acutely agitated with aggressive behaviors. Learners were expected to attempt to verbally de-escalate the patient and select an appropriate pharmacologic agent for decreasing agitation in the patient. A standardized debrief was conducted with the assistance of child and adolescent mental health experts.

Results

Twenty-two learners participated in this activity. Residents' confidence in their management skills of the acutely agitated pediatric patient significantly increased after completion of the activity. Seventy-three percent of learners felt confident or very confident in their de-escalation skills at the end of the case, and 86% agreed that the case improved their confidence in managing acute agitation scenarios on the inpatient wards.

Discussion

This case led to overall increased self-efficacy in caring for the acutely agitated pediatric patient. Future iterations may include multidisciplinary learners of various skill levels and evaluating changes in patient-centered outcomes, such as restraint use, after implementation of the case.

Pediatric Polytrauma Fire Victim Simulation

Introduction

Pediatric trauma has long been one of the primary contributors to pediatric mortality. There are multiple cases in the literature involving cyanide (CN) toxicity, carbon monoxide (CO) toxicity, and smoke inhalation with thermal injury, but none in combination with mechanical trauma.

Methods

In this 45-minute simulation case, emergency medicine residents and fellows were asked to manage a pediatric patient with multiple life-threatening traumatic and metabolic concerns after being extracted from a van accident with a resulting fire. Providers were expected to identify and manage the patient's airway, burns, hemoperitoneum, and CO and CN toxicities.

Results

Forty learners participated in this simulation, the majority of whom had little prior clinical experience managing the concepts highlighted in it. All agreed or strongly agreed that the case was relevant to their work. After participation, learner confidence in the ability to manage each of the learning objectives was high. One hundred percent of learners felt confident or very confident in managing CO toxicity and completing primary and secondary surveys, while 97% were similarly confident in identifying smoke inhalation injury, preparing for a difficult airway, and managing CN toxicity.

Discussion

This case was a well-received teaching tool for the management of pediatric trauma and metabolic derangements related to fire injuries. While this specific case represents a rare clinical experience, it is within the scope of expected knowledge for emergency medicine providers and offers the opportunity to practice managing multisystem trauma.