Emergency physicians' experience with pediatric death

Based on the hypothesis that managing pediatric death-particularly, communicating with survivors-is extremely difficult for most emergency physicians, 122 general emergency physicians at a written board review course were surveyed to assess their attitudes toward pediatric death. Sixty six percent reported that communicating with the family of a child who had died was the most difficult experience in emergency medicine. Sixty-six percent considered communication with the family of a child who had died to be much more difficult than communication with the family of an adult who had died, Sixty-four percent reported feelings of guilt or inadequacy after unsuccessful pediatric resuscitation, and 47% reported feeling impaired for the remainder of their shift, Only 8% of physicians were aware of published guidelines regarding managing pediatric emergency department (ED) deaths, and only 14% of physicians had ever had any training in death notification, Ninety two percent of physicians responded that a course directed toward managing the family of a child who had died in the ED would be helpful in dealing with this difficult situation. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.