Wakefield Act

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of my legislation. H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act, which seeks to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program.

Unfortunately, today the hospital emergency department has become the fundamental source of our health care delivery system for both primary and emergency care. Due to this trend, it's easy to forget that emergency medicine is actually a relatively new specialty. Emergency rooms were first established in the 1970s as medical personnel returning from the Vietnam War sought to put to use the battlefield medicine they had learned. Skills initially developed to save wounded soldiers were translated to saving victims of car crashes and trauma.

That genesis in battlefield medicine, however, failed to account for the very different physical, developmental, and physiological traits of children. By the early 1980s, doctors were seeing marked disparities in survival rates among adults and children with similar injuries.

Created in 1984, the EMSC program sought to address those disparities in children's emergency care. The program has driven fundamental changes in America's emergency medical system and brought vital resources and attention to a neglected population. Since it was established, child injury death rates have dropped 40 percent. With the aid of research and attention from the EMSC program and others, pediatric emergency medicine was developed, and was ultimately established as a separate medical subspecialty in 1992.

This year we are proud to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the EMSC program. The EMSC program provides seed money to every state and territory to carry out activities designed to improve children's emergency care. States may use those funds to ensure that hospitals and ambulances are stocked with appropriate equipment and supplies; to provide pediatric training to paramedics; to improve systems, such as transfer agreements among facilities; and much more. The program also supports the National EMSC Resource Center, an information clearinghouse that provides materials and technical support to states and institutions. The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network links pediatric emergency providers across the nation to perform research on injury and illness among children. The National EMSC Data Analysis Resource Center--based in my district at the University of Utah--assists states to collect, analyze, and utilize EMSC data.

The EMSC program's authorization expired in September 2005. In summer 2006, the Institutes of Medicine released a report entitled, ``Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains,'' which documented both the value of the EMSC program and the gaps that remain in providing quality emergency care for all children. The report found that, although children represent 27 percent of all emergency department visits, only about 6 percent of emergency departments have all of the supplies deemed essential for managing pediatric emergencies, and only half of hospitals have at least 85 percent of those supplies. The report described the EMSC program as ``well positioned to assume [a] leadership role'' in addressing deficiencies in emergency care for

children and recommended funding the program at $37.5 million per year.

H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act, has bipartisan, bicameral support. The bill is also endorsed by over 50 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Medical Association, the Emergency Nurses Association, and many more. I would like to thank Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Waxman and his staff for working with me and my staff to move this legislation forward.

Last year, the House passed this bill on a vote of 390-1. I urge every Member to support this important legislation once again-- together, we can work to ensure that our nation's children have the best possible medical care during emergencies.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act, which will reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program for an additional four years.

Since its establishment in 1985, the Emergency Medical Services for Children program, also known as EMSC, has provided grants to all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories to ensure that every child in America has access to quality, appropriate care in a health emergency. The EMSC program has improved the availability of child-appropriate equipment in ambulances and emergency departments, supported hundreds of programs to prevent injuries, and provided thousands of hours of training to EMTs, paramedics, and other emergency medical care providers.

In my home state, New York's EMSC program is working to provide ongoing assessment and improvement of medical care for critically ill or injured children. The state EMSC Advisory Committee continually meets to discuss plans for designating health care resources to optimally serve the needs of critically ill or injured pediatric patients. This Committee is currently designing a road map of resources, standards, and roles for hospitals within the state and for the statewide EMS system as a whole. The plan will improve the state's ability to bring children to the hospitals that are best equipped to treat them as well as establish a general set of interfacility guidelines.

Kids are not just small adults. Methods to treat children in emergencies vary greatly from methods used with adults in the same situations. The EMSC program is an integral part of preparing our nation's healthcare providers and giving them the tools they need to treat children in an emergency. This is especially significant at a time in our history that disaster preparedness, both due to natural disasters as well as potential terrorist attacks, is so important.

I would like to thank Representative Matheson for his leadership on this issue, as well as Representatives Castor and Reichert for their continued support. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this imperative bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 479) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide a means for continued improvement in emergency medical services for children, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, again, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the bill.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act. Every year, more children between the ages of 1 and 19 die due to injury than all other forms of illness. Though we have made huge advances in our system to provide rapid interventions and transport for adults, there has been only limited focus on the specialized needs of children.

Recognizing this gap in knowledge, Congress created the Emergency Medical Services for Children grant program in 1984, which is designed to ensure state-of-the-art emergency medical care for ill or injured children and adolescents.

The bill before us today reauthorizes this vital public health care program that covers the entire spectrum of emergency medical care. It also allows grants awarded under the EMSC program to be 4 years, with an optional fifth year, which is an increase of 1 year over current law.

I would like to thank my colleague from Utah, Representative Matheson, for his hard work on this issue. We passed this bill out of the House of Representatives last Congress, and I urge us to pass it again this year.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and ask for passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 479, the Wakefield Act.

This legislation was introduced by Representative Jim Matheson, and was passed by the House last Congress. The bill reforms the Public Health Service Act to improve emergency medicine services for children.

The Wakefield Act would authorize grants to States and medical schools to purchase equipment for children requiring trauma or critical care. About 31 million children and adolescents visit emergency rooms every year, and more than 90 percent of them are seen in general hospitals, not in children's hospitals that are best equipped to treat them.

The bill also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support projects that are based on scientific evidence, promote innovative technology, and provide information on health outcomes, including cost effectiveness. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 479.

Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers. I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on March 30th, I was detained in my district and therefore missed the three rollcall votes of the day. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 163 on the Motion to Table the Privileged Resolution. Had I been present I would have also voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 164 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 20--Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act. Lastly, had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote No. 165 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 479--Wakefield Act.