Exploring Opportunities to improve patient safety in our Emergency Departments

Amy Plint is the lead author on “Adverse events in the paediatric emergency department: a prospective cohort study” Published in BMJ Quality and Safety. The study explored opportunities to improve patient safety by providing evidence of where to focus efforts in a resource-restricted environment. This prospective cohort study examined outcomes of patients presenting to a paediatric ED over a 1-year period, reviewing the risk of adverse events, their type, preventability and severity, for children seen in a paediatric ED. They concluded One in 40 children suffered adverse events related to ED care. A high proportion of events were preventable. Management and diagnostic issues warrant further study.