ABSTRACT
Modern pediatric trauma care, like adult trauma care, has undergone constant evolution during the past generation, since the care of injured children first emerged as a distinct discipline. In part, this was driven by the growing recognition among pediatric surgeons-led by Dr. Jacob Alexander Haller, Junior, of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland-that pediatric trauma care constituted a key component of the subspecialty of pediatric surgery, and in part by the growing recognition of the federal government that emergency medical services (EMS) for children had been neglected during the development of EMS systems nationwide (1,2). Since their inception, pediatric trauma programs have stressed the need for full integration with their affiliated adult trauma programs and their regional EMS systems, to ensure seamless care, and cost-effective use of scarce human and financial resources (3). They have also recognized the need for all who care for pediatric patients to ensure that the special needs of injured children are met at every level of trauma and EMS system organization (4).
