Ep 217 Pediatric Agitation: Assessment and Management

About this episode

This episode discusses the assessment and management of pediatric agitation in the Emergency Department with expert guests.

Pediatric agitation in the Emergency Department is one of those presentations that can escalate quickly and leave even experienced clinicians feeling on edge. It is high-risk, resource-intensive, and often unfolds in an already overstimulating environment where small missteps can make things worse. At the same time, agitation is not a diagnosis, it is a clinical presentation that may reflect anything from psychiatric illness to delirium, intoxication, trauma, or simply a child overwhelmed by the ED itself. So how do we approach these patients in a way that is safe, systematic, and effective? In this episode with guest experts, Dr. Susan Duffy and Dr. Thomas Chun, we tackle the questions that come up at the bedside: How do we rapidly distinguish mild, moderate, and severe agitation in a way that actually changes what we do next? Which patients are most likely to escalate, and how can we intervene early to prevent that? When should we be worried about a medical or toxicologic cause rather than assuming this is “behavioural”? What does effective verbal de-escalation actually look like in a busy ED, and why does it so often fail? When is a "code white" for emergency security measures…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Anton Helman

Guests: Dr. Susan Duffy, Dr. Thomas Chun

Topics covered

• pediatric agitation
• emergency department
• clinical assessment
• de-escalation techniques
• medication management
• patient safety

Keywords

• pediatric agitation
• emergency medicine
• de-escalation
• medication
• patient assessment
• clinical presentation

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