Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Europe [La Pédiatrie d'Urgence en Europe]

To reduce the morbidity and mortality of critically ill and injured children, comprehensive care must be provided. This includes effective services and treatment from the onset of illness or injury through definitive care provided by medical expert in Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM). PEM is being established as a unique and independent new subspecialty in the United States, Canada and Australia. In Europe, the number of pediatricians with a special interest in PEM and the number of Hospitals dedicated to acutely ill children have increased over the past 10 years but PEM has grown very dishomogeneously in different Countries, so there still are large differences in the professional and scientific situation between nations. The expectation for the future is that pediatricians will play more and more a key role in development, implementation and ongoing supervision of emergency medical services for children and, in addition, will be involved in quality assurance and clinical protocol development, advocacy and research in the field of PEM.