NBC News (8/16, Edwards) reports, “Three influential groups of pediatricians and emergency medicine” clinicians “are pleading for more support and resources as the number of children and teenagers with mental health concerns overwhelm emergency departments” (EDs) across the country. A joint policy statement was issued Aug. 16 and published online in the journal Pediatrics by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association in which the “groups are calling for local communities to increase access to mental health services before emergency care is needed.”
HealthDay (8/16, Thompson) says, “Every year, about half a million children with mental and behavioral health problems are evaluated in” EDs, “the joint report says,” and ED “visits spurred by mental health problems increased by 120% at children’s hospitals between 2007 and 2016.” During that same time frame, “the rate among general hospitals rose by 55%.” Because ED “teams are designed to work at a fever pitch, moving from case to case as quickly as possible,” children who are in psychiatric crisis who “need follow-up care…are less likely to get that follow-up if they go to an” ED.
Related Links:
— “Emergency room doctors beg for help treating children with mental health illnesses,”Erika Edwards, NBC News , August 16, 2023