Making a cuppa… for a little person

My 6-year-old daughter, Nyah, recently persuaded me to buy her a kitten, whom she has elected to call Sneaker. A couple of weeks ago, I took him to the veterinarian for his vaccinations. The vet skilfully distracted him with some kitten treats and, to my surprise, the vaccination was soon complete, with Sneaker entirely oblivious to having been poked by the needle.

When I recounted this story to Nyah, an impassioned monologue on the topic ensued to the tune of: ‘Why don't doctors and nurses do that to me when I go to the hospital? I hate pokes. They should learn from the vet. They give me a lollipop afterwards when I'm crying but they should give it to me before so I can eat it instead of getting hurt, right mummy?’ As might be becoming clearer, my daughter is, unfortunately, no stranger to the emergency department.

In the current issue of the Journal of Paramedic Practice, we shine a light on paediatric emergencies, with two feature articles and a comment. In the first feature, Patrick Ennis shares a pilot of the Paramedic Advanced Resuscitation of Children (PARC) course (p. 470). The second feature shifts its focus towards neonates, with Emerson and Laws investigating the effect of placental transfusion on neonatal resuscitation attempts (p. 480). In our comment on p. 466, Whitley et al discuss the complexity of pain management in children, highlighting the many factors that affect pain perception in this young patient population.