Assessment of emergency trolley drugs in a children’s hospital. Before and after study on an educational intervention

Abstract

Introduction. The approach to pediatric emergenciesrequiresspecializedresources,and medication errors are common. Objectives.Todescribethecontentsofemergency trolleys(ETs)inachildren’shospitalandcompare them after an educational intervention. Methods. The ETs from 9 hospitalization wards were included. A checklist of 30 drugs was developed. ETs were assessed by determining whether drugs were present or absent and their amount. An educational intervention was conducted and assessments were repeated 30 and 90 days after the intervention. Results. The baseline measurement indicated an overall ratio of adequate drugs of 43.9 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 38.4-49.4) with a variation among ETs from 29 % to 54.8 %, and from15%to85%amongdruggroups.At30days, the adequate ratio reached 70.3 % (95 % CI: 65.2-75.4), with a wide variation among the different ETs and drug groups (from 51.6 % to 93.5 % and from 50 % to 95 %, respectively). At 90 days, the percentages were similar. The comparison between the first and second measurement showed an improvement in all ETs (range: 3.2 %-45.1 %), odds ratio: 3.73 (95 % CI: 2.5-5.6), p<0.001.Resultsweresimilarbetweenthesecond and third measurement. Conclusions.Thebaselinemeasurementshowed a low level of adequate ET drugs. After the intervention,thisimprovedsignificantlyandwas maintained during the studied period.