Alder Hey leads study for early warning system for children

Alder Hey is leading on a new study called DETECT (Dynamic Electronic Tracking and Escalation) to reduce critical care transfers and to record vital signs.

The study has received £1.25m in funding from the National Institute for Health Research Invention for Innovation Programme (NIHR i4i) and involves The University of Liverpool, Edge Hill University, Lancaster University and System C.

Healthcare professionals at Alder Hey are currently using electronic devices to record breathing rate, effort of breathing, oxygen saturation, oxygen requirement, heart rate, blood pressure, capillary refill time, temperature and nurse or parental concerns.

The DETECT Study is the first research study of its kind in the UK as an early warning system for children.

The recorded data will automatically calculate an age-specific paediatric early warning score (PEWS), which categorises the risk of developing serious illness into low, medium, high or critical. These scores and signs suggestive of sepsis are automatically flagged to staff to help them recognise the early signs of deterioration, with a view to reducing emergency admissions to critical care.

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Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 11 November 2019