Children's Critical and Emergency Care pillar

The Children's Critical and Emergency Care pillar focuses on diseases and disorders of childhood and seeks to evaluate, and challenge established ideas and treatments in the emergency and critical care setting.

The team currently leads a 3 multi-site randomised controlled trials across the areas of paediatric airway management, haemostatic resuscitation and procedural sedation. Collaborating with the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) and the Paediatric Critical Care Research Group (PCCRG), we collaborate on a number of multisite research projects across the spectrum of paediatric emergency care.

In 2021/2022 the group was successful in more than A$3m in completive research grants from a number of funding bodies including the NHMRC, Emergency Medicine Foundation, The Thrasher Research Fund and Gold Coast Health.

Our research focuses on various themes including:

• Improving the safety of paediatric airway management
• Improving recognition, diagnosis and management of paediatric sepsis
• Haemostatic resuscitation techniques in children using viscoelastic haemostatic assays
• The use and indications of nasal high flow respiratory support in children
• Child centred care in the emergency department with a focus on minimising discomfort from procedures and treatment
• Management of Acute Severe Behavioural Disturbance who have failed non pharmacological de-escalation
• To externally validate in children existing clinical decision rules by assessing the accuracy of detecting C-Spine Injury

• Paediatric Critical Care Research Group, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland
• Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative
• Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Paediatric Study Group
• Griffith University
• Menzies Health Institute Queensland
• Paediatric Intensive Care Research Coordinator Interest Group (PIRCIG) - ANZICS