Standardizing Child Passenger Safety Screening in the Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Study

Abstract

Background: Motor vehicle collisions remain a leading cause of death and injury in children in the United States. Our Level I trauma center found that 53% of children ages 1–19 years are improperly restrained or unrestrained. Our center employs a Pediatric Injury Prevention Coalition with nationally certified child passenger safety technicians who are active in the community yet remain underutilized in the clinical setting. Objective: The purpose of the quality improvement project was to standardize child passenger safety screening in the emergency department to increase referrals to a Pediatric Injury Prevention Coalition. Methods: This quality improvement project utilized a pre-/postdesign of data collected before and after implementing the child passenger safety bundle. Using the Plan–Do–Study–Act model, organizational change processes were identified, and quality improvement interventions implemented from March to May 2022. Results: The total number of families referred was 199, representing 230 children, which was 3.8% of the eligible population. A significant relationship was found between child passenger safety screening and referral to the Pediatric Injury Prevention Coalition in 2019 and 2021, χ2 (1, n = 230) = 239.98, p < .001, and χ2 (1, n = 230) = 240.78, p < .001, respectively. Forty-one percent of the referred families established contact with the Pediatric Injury Prevention Coalition. Conclusion: Standardizing child passenger safety screening in the emergency department increased referrals to a Pediatric Injury Prevention Coalition and resulted in improved child safety seat distribution and child passenger safety education.