The US Department for Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has funded Dr. Mary Fallat's grant entitled Compassionate Options for Pediatric EMS (COPE). Dr. Mary E. Fallat , Division Director, Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, is the Principal Investigator for the grant, with sub-investigators, Dr. Erica Sutton, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Dr. Anita Barbee, Kent School of Social Work and Dr. Aaron Calhoun, Department of Pediatrics.

The total amount of the three-year grant is $849,246. Many children in this country die of acute illness and injury in out-of-hospital settings or die immediately after transport to a hospital. The goal of the project is to use a systems approach to out-of-hospital pediatric death that equips EMS providers with the knowledge, tools and skills to manage emotional and psychological repercussions for themselves and the grieving families they encounter. The researchers will evaluate existing evidence about effective bereavement of families and coping by EMS providers after child fatalities to develop a mobile app that will help first responders better respond to and manage out-of-hospital pediatric death.

The mobile app will be validated with scenario-based simulation testing and will be modified based on videotaped and live simulation exercises at national EMS meetings. The team will evaluate the impact of the mobile app and will develop a continuous quality improvement process for incorporating evaluation feedback into the mobile app system as it goes live in the field by the end of the project.

This work builds on previous work by Dr. Fallat in understanding the process and impact of out-of-hospital pediatric deaths and work by Dr. Barbee on trauma, coping, and workforce management of secondary traumatic stress, as well as training evaluation as a critical part of CQI and implementation science.