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2019 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 705
Designating October 22, in 2019 and in each succeeding year, as the Cameron Crowder Pediatric Care Awareness Day in Virginia.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 4, 2019
Agreed to by the Senate, February 20, 2019

 

WHEREAS, emergency physicians and nurses care for approximately 25 million children under the age of 15 in the United States each year, with pediatric patients accounting for at least 20 percent of emergency department visits; and

WHEREAS, while the vast majority of these patients experience good outcomes, and the United States maintains the best pediatric emergency care system in the world, many emergency medical personnel feel underprepared to address the unique challenges of assessing and treating pediatric patients; and

WHEREAS, pediatric emergency care requires specific skills and training as well as specific types and sizes of equipment and supplies, and established procedures and techniques for treating adult patients may not be effective for pediatric patients; and

WHEREAS, emergency medical technicians, emergency department staff, nurses, emergency medicine physicians, pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, respiratory therapists, radiologic technologists, phlebotomists, perfusionists, radiologists, and pediatric specialists in emergency medicine, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, pulmonology, critical care, and neonatology all play a role in the care of young patients from infancy to adolescence; and

WHEREAS, on October 22, 2018, three-year-old Cameron Crowder was taken to Carilion New River Valley Medical Center for what was suspected to be a case of croup; over the next 24 hours, he was diagnosed with a more severe condition requiring surgery, and was transferred to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and the University of Virginia Medical Center, respectively; and

WHEREAS, Cameron Crowder was the first pediatric patient to be placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, with surgeons modifying adult equipment and using groundbreaking techniques to ensure a successful procedure and prevent further complications; and

WHEREAS, Cameron Crowder received exceptional, life-saving care from nurses Cindy Johnson and Teresa Jones, respiratory therapists Alva Daniels and Amanda Short, intensivist Randall Ruppel, and surgeons William Arnold and Shawn Safford; and

WHEREAS, the medical professionals who assisted Cameron Crowder are fine examples of the hardworking pediatric emergency caregivers who treat children and adolescents across the Commonwealth each day; and

WHEREAS, health care providers throughout Virginia are encouraged to ensure that state-of-the-art emergency medical care for ill or injured pediatric patients is fully integrated at all levels of the emergency medical system—prehospital, hospital, acute, and rehabilitation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly designate October 22, in 2019 and in each succeeding year, as the Cameron Crowder Pediatric Care Awareness Day in Virginia to honor the vital work of pediatric emergency care providers; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Virginia Department of Health's Virginia Emergency Medical Services for Children program so that members of the organization may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this day on the General Assembly's website.