Family Centered Practice During Pediatric Death in an Out of Hospital Setting.

AbstractObjective: To understand effective ways for EMS providers to interact with distressed family members during a field intervention involving a recent or impending out-of-hospital (OOH) pediatric death. Methods: Eight focus groups with 98 EMS providers were conducted in urban and rural settings between November 2013 and March 2014. Sixty-eight providers also completed a short questionnaire about a specific event including demographics. Seventy-eight percent of providers were males, 13% were either African American or Hispanic, and the average number of years in EMS was 16 years. They were asked how team members managed the family during the response to a dying child, what was most helpful for families whose child suddenly and unexpectedly was dead in the OOH setting, and what follow up efforts with the family were effective. Results: The professional response by the EMS team was critical to family coping and getting necessary support. There were several critical competencies identified to help the fa...