Quality of emergency care for acute poisoning in children

Martínez Sánchez L, Mintegi S, Molina Cabañero JC, Azkunaga B

Objective: To analyze quality of emergency care for acute poisoning in children.

Methods: Multicenter observational study based on 6 health care quality indicators for

treating poisoning in the pediatric emergency services of hospitals participating in the

Toxicology Observation Project of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

Two indicators were analyzed individually for each center and the remaining 4 indicators

were analyzed globally based on data from the project. We considered that an

acceptable quality of care was indicated by 90% compliance with a standard except in

the case of use of gastric lavage, for which quality of care was indicated by use in <10% of cases. Results: The quality standard was achieved for administration of activated carbon after intake of a substance that can be bound by it (96.7%) and for timely administration of charcoal within 2 hours (94.5%). Acceptable results for availability of antidotes were found in all but 2 hospitals. The targeted standard was not met for 3 indicators: availability of protocols, initiating decontamination within 20 minutes (86%), and use of gastric lavage (30%). Conclusions: The emergency care of poisoned children can be improved.

Azkunaga B, Martínez Sánchez L, Mintegi S, Molina Cabañero JC