Orrin Hatch: “today I wish to speak about legislation to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program administered…”

“today I wish to speak about legislation to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau. I want to thank my fellow bill sponsors, Senators Casey and Schatz, for their dedication to improving children's health and for working with me to extend this important program once again. I am honored to have helped create the EMSC program with Senator Daniel Inouye in 1984, and I take great pride in the work that I have done since then to reauthorize it over the years. As we near the 35th anniversary of EMSC, we can look back on the great progress we have made. Indeed, we have made significant strides in assuring that emergency medical personnel and systems are trained to effectively treat pediatric patients while in transport to a medical facility. As we have said time and time again, children are not just small adults. They have different medical needs, presenting special challenges for emergency and trauma care providers. From smaller-sized medical equipment to different dosage requirements for medicines, pediatric patients have important physical, mental, and developmental differences from adults. It is the EMSC program that ensures state-of- the-art emergency medical care for all sick or injured children and adolescents across the entire spectrum of care.…”