Many reasons are given to explain a practice's lack of emergency preparedness. The most common is that it is unnecessary, as emergencies are rarely seen. As mentioned above, that impression may or may not be factual. Nevertheless, even if emergencies represent a tiny fraction of the total patient visits for a particular practice, when they do occur, a lack of planning, equipment and training will certainly result in a bad outcome for both the patient and the practitioner.
Another common excuse is that the pediatrician is too busy and emergency preparedness is too time-consuming. However, little time is required for BLS or PALS certification for the pediatrician and staff. BLS is a 1-day course with a 1-day recertification every 2 years. PALS is a 2-day course with a 1-day recertification every 2 years. And even less time is needed to assemble equipment and medications. In fact many come in ready made kits.
There are those who complain that the emergency supplies are too costly. But the minimum recommended set of equipment and medications costs only about $500 with less than that per year for restocking. While it is certainly more expensive (around $6000) for the recommended high level of supplies, most of this cost can be attributed to one-time purchases, so again there is a less than $500 yearly restocking expense.
Finally the excuse is given that office emergency readiness is unnecessary because of the proximity of the office to the local ER or the fast EMS response times. While this may be a legitimate explanation for some practices, it clearly cannot apply to all. Even allowing a 5-10 minute response time, studies have shown that EMS will spend up to 30 minutes in the office stabilizing the patient and gathering information before leaving for the ER. A well-defined office plan can expedite the transfer of critical information and the interventions begun by the pediatrician and staff prior to EMS' arrival can have a significant impact on the outcome.