Medical-surgical nurse Maria Rubio, left, and nursing assistant Riley Hays search for the correct color designation dose on Broselow Tape, a color-coded height and weight-based system for accurate pediatric dosing and equipment sizing, during a pediatric care training at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023. The Broselow tape system was instituted in the hospital’s emergency department as a part of their Colorado Pediatric Preparedness for the Emergency Room, or COPPER, certification.
Emergency Rooms Are Failing Kids. This Hospital Stepped Up.
Among the nation's smallest hospitals, Grand River Health in Rifle, Colorado, recently joined the ranks of the country's most prepared for children in an emergency. This feat was unlikely just a few years ago, when the 25-bed in the Rocky Mountains scored just 51/100 points on a test on its pediatric readiness.
The ER drastically improved throughout 2023, though, by color-coding its equipment, training staff and various other measures. As of June, they scored a 97.5/100 on the same test.
Photographed for The Wall Street Journal
A Colorado River Fire Rescue first responder brings a stretcher back into an ambulance outside the Grand River Health emergency department at the base of the mountains in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Cardiopulmonary services director Jeff Wold, right, shows how to use a new t-piece, which delivers automatically pressurized air to an infant, to infusion nurse Amber Hill during a pediatric care training at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023. The piece of equipment for oxygen delivery, among others, was updated for the hospital’s Colorado Pediatric Preparedness for the Emergency Room, or COPPER, certification.
Emergency department director Erin Mitchell, one of the main people pushing for better pediatric readiness at Grand River Health, sits for a portrait in the pediatric emergency room in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
The Grand River Health emergency department sits at the base of the mountains in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Color-coded, height and weight-based dosage stickers, part of the Broselow Tape measure, sit on a table during a pediatric care training at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Medical-surgical nurse Maria Rubio, left, and nursing assistant Riley Hays point to the correct color designation dose on Broselow Tape, a color-coded height and weight-based system for accurate pediatric dosing and equipment sizing, during a pediatric care training at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
A crash cart, a big part of the Grand River Health emergency department’s Colorado Pediatric Preparedness for the Emergency Room, or COPPER, certification, is seen in the pediatric emergency room at the hospital in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Dr. Cole Nelson, an emergency room physician, has a laugh with EMT and pediatric emergency care coordinator Kaitlyn Getz in the Grand River Health emergency department in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Dr. S. Nichole Feeney, one of the main people pushing for better pediatric readiness at Grand River Health, stands for a portrait outside the hospital in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
A turtle-themed infant oxygen mask sits on a table during a pediatric care training at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Amy Hohon, emergency room nurse, practices using a laryngoscope on a baby manikin for pediatric intubation as emergency room nurse Jade Mahaffey helps during a training for pediatric care at Grand River Health in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
Kurt Lundin, an emergency medical technician, makes a bed on a stretcher as paramedic Chelsey Johnson checks his phone in the Grand River Health emergency department in Rifle, Colo., on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
