Helping emergency teams spot sepsis in children during transfer calls
The Right Call: Implementing a Sepsis Diagnostic Safety Toolkit in a Pediatric Transfer Call Center to Improve Diagnosis of Children in General Emergency Settings
Using a short phone-based diagnostic safety toolkit during pediatric transfer calls to help emergency clinicians recognize sepsis in children sooner.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Colorado Denver NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Aurora, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11137721 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child is seen in a general emergency department, clinicians often make brief consult or transfer calls to pediatric specialists; this project will introduce a simple sepsis diagnostic toolkit to use during those calls. The team will identify and analyze common diagnostic mistakes, then change communication and workflow in the transfer call center to reduce those errors. The toolkit and workflow changes will be implemented in participating hospitals and their transfer-call systems and their effects on timely sepsis recognition will be tracked. Successful practices would be packaged for wider use across other general EDs.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children evaluated for possible sepsis in general emergency departments—particularly those whose clinicians place transfer or consult phone calls to pediatric specialists—are the primary focus.
Not a fit: Children already seen in pediatric specialty emergency departments or those not involved in transfer/consult phone calls are unlikely to be affected by this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help emergency clinicians diagnose pediatric sepsis faster, lowering the risk of complications, long-term problems, and death.
How similar studies have performed: This approach is relatively novel, since few prior studies in general ED transfer-call settings have identified effective strategies to improve pediatric sepsis diagnosis.
Where this research is happening
Aurora, UNITED STATES
- University of Colorado Denver — Aurora, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Scott, Halden F — University of Colorado Denver
- Study coordinator: Scott, Halden F
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.