Minimum equipment guidelines for paediatric prehospital care.

Prehospital care has become a well-defined specialty service in Canada, with various levels of paramedics providing specialized care to children before their arrival to hospital. The equipment required may vary according to the needs of the population being served and the level of training of the paramedics who are providing the care. The present statement provides a current list of the minimum equipment recommended for the provision of prehospital care to neonatal and paediatric patients. The most notable change to the present guideline is the addition of an automated external defibrillator, which has been added to reflect the most recent version of the paediatric advanced life support recommendations for the provision of basic life support.