Up to 13 percent of children under age 18, or 9.4 million children, are living with chronic medical conditions. Referred to as “children with special health care needs,” this group includes children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, asthma, hemophilia, autism, diabetes, and various genetic disorders. Children with special health care needs live in about 20 percent of U.S. family households.

To ensure prompt and appropriate care for children with special health care needs during emergency situations, ACEP and the American Academy of Pediatricians developed an “Emergency Information Form for Children with Special Health Needs” [insert link].

Completing this form and making it available to medical personnel in emergency situations will ensure that a child’s complicated medical history is concisely summarized and available when needed most — when the child comes to an emergency department with an acute health problem, especially when a parent or the child’s physician is not immediately available.

• Parents should complete the form with their child’s physician or medical specialist and register it through MedicAlert by calling 1-800-ID-ALERT (432-5378). MedicAlert’s 24-Hour Emergency Response Center will keep the form on file so that health care professionals can retrieve needed information anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.
• Copies of the form should also be provided to all caregivers — such as babysitters, teachers, and school nurses — and should be taken along in the event the child needs to go to the emergency department.

In addition, children with special health care needs should wear medical bracelets or jewelry — with details about medications, hospitalizations, operations, and immunizations — to provide vital information in an emergency. The MedicAlert Foundation disseminates medical identification bracelets internationally and serves as a central repository for any child who enrolls in its program.