Live video consults to make ambulance care safer for critically ill babies and children
Official title: Efficacy of Teleconsultation to Improve Prehospital Patient Safety for Critically Ill Infants and Children - A Multicenter, Simulation-based Randomized Control Trial
Funded at Boston Medical Center · NIH-11146685 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project sees whether live video calls with pediatric experts can make ambulance care safer for critically ill infants and young children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $748,636 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD115574-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11146685 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
The work focuses on infants and children up to about 11 years old who are critically ill and who would receive care and transport by EMS.
✕Less likely to help
Children older than the stated age range or those not transported by emergency medical services are unlikely to be affected by this project.
What this research studies
If your child is a critically ill infant or young child who might need ambulance care, this project looks at using live video links from EMS crews to pediatric specialists to improve safety during transport. Researchers will run a multicenter, randomized effort using in situ simulations (real ambulance teams in their usual work settings) to compare care with and without teleconsultation. They will use a low-cost video platform the team developed, and they will compare safety tracking from video review versus traditional chart review. The team builds on prior pilot work showing the approach is acceptable and feasible.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could lower errors and reduce harm during ambulance transport for critically ill infants and children.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier pilot simulations showed the teleconsultation approach was feasible and acceptable, and prior work has reduced in-hospital pediatric errors, but prehospital benefit has not yet been proven.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston Medical Center
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Boyle, Tehnaz Parakh — Boston Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Boyle, Tehnaz Parakh
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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.