QPEM- Procedural sedation course 

This training program focuses on pediatric sedation for procedures. It includes didactic teaching sessions, case-based discussions, simulations and practical workshops designed to improve clinical skills and critical thinking relating to procedural sedation.

The target audience are physicians with non-anesthesiology/non-critical care training background who require privileging for delivering procedural sedation of children in the Emergency Department. The program is offered to Fellows/residents rotating in Emergency Medicine as well as well as external health care practitioners who perform sedation in children. The course has a track for nurses as well that covers the nursing aspects of pediatric procedural sedation.

The learning objectives of the training program are as follows:

1. Apply pediatric sedation guidelines, including pre-sedation evaluation, monitoring and discharge criteria.
2. Differentiate between mild, moderate sedation, deep sedation, dissociation and general anesthesia.
3. Evaluate and apply agents used for moderate sedation, dissociative sedation and deep sedation including indications, contraindications, dosage, administration, side effects and implications for care.
4. Recognize patients at risk for developing upper airway obstruction and describe the appropriate interventions for complications that may occur.
5. Identify the essential components to be considered for returning patients to a state in which safe discharge is possible.

The topics that will be covered in this training program includes, pediatric procedural sedation guidelines, consent related issues, evaluation of patients prior to sedation, pediatric airway management, medications in pediatric procedural sedation, pediatric procedural sedation in action as well as case-based discussions.

The practical sessions include pediatric airway management as well as simulated scenarios.

The feedback of candidates who attended the previous pediatric sedation courses was hugely positive. One candidate commented (I have learned proper implementation of procedural sedation in pediatric patients which will help us deliver safe, effective and quality care/management).

The course speakers are experienced attending physicians in pediatric emergency medicine and pediatrics with long experience in pediatric procedural sedation.