LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Emergency Medical Services clinicians aren’t just one of the first responders on the scene; they’re often the first to identify a health care crisis. For the 5th time in a row, the Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services has been recognized by the Kentucky Emergency Medical Services for Children Advisory Committee for going above and beyond to provide high-quality pediatric emergency care.

Louisville Metro EMS Education Coordinator Erin Spyrka says workers are often overlooked.

“We don’t look for recognition for what we do. We’re just here to, you know, help people on a daily basis. But for the state to realize that you know, we’re going above and beyond when it comes to pediatric kids is a nice recognition to have,” said Spyrka.

Spyrka says they take care of around 80,000 patients every year, about 10% of whom are kids.

“You have to have strong assessment skills, which is what we practice. A lot of times there’s not anything that you can physically do for a pediatric patient, but we have to be able to use the clues that the kiddo is actually giving us,” said Spyrka.

While pediatric patient calls don’t happen every day, Spyrka says it’s critically important that they are prepared to care for children in any emergency.

“We do, a lot of concentrated education on pediatric patients. Pediatric patients don’t happen every day. But when they do, they tend to be the scariest calls for our providers. So we make sure, monthly at our in-service training, that we do some extra practice with skills that are required to take care of the kiddos and to make sure we don’t get rusty,” said Spyrka.

And a part of their preparation is having the proper tools they need to provide the best pre-hospital care for when that call does come in.

“This is our newest piece of pediatric equipment, to be able to transport little kids between five and 15 pounds safely. So this is called a “NeoMate” it’s basically allows us to make the stretcher into a car seat for the littlest of pediatric patients,” Spyrka explained..

With another year of recognition, Spyrka says she hopes it gives the families peace of mind that they are in the best hands.

“Having a sick and injured kid is obviously a very scary situation for a parent and nothing that we’re going to say to calm their nerves. But hopefully, knowing that in the back of their mind puts them in just a little bit of ease,” said Spyrka.

Spyrka says Louisville EMS is just a phone call away and is prepared to respond to any problem or emergency.