Dosing errors may occur with some frequency in pediatric patients receiving prehospital emergency care. Causes should be identified and interventions developed to correct problems.
Factors that may contribute to dosing errors in pediatric patients having prehospital emergency care:
(1) personnel who lack training and/or experience in dealing with children
(2) lack of pediatric medications and administration supplies
(3) errors in the patient's weight
(4) problems in drug packaging
(5) errors in performing the dosing calculation
Significant discrepancies in estimated and actual weight tended to be seen in:
(1) a child less than 10 years of age
(2) a child with seizures
(3) a child having a cardiac arrest
Some organizations noted problems in reporting and tracking errors, making it difficult to know the magnitude of the problem.
Interventions to reduce errors:
(1) better training
(2) availability of tapes for measuring height with conversion to weight and doses of common drugs
(3) availability of pediatric medication and administration supplies
(4) a method to record problems and to identify the causes