Prehospital care of critically ill children.

Care of the critically ill child before he enters the environment where he can receive definitive care is still a neglected area. Largely, this is because the magnitude of this problem was not perceived. Now that EMS systems are maturing, it is imperative that attention be paid to the needs of the child. In the 1980s, an appropriate legacy of the International Year of the Child would be the development of optimal EMS care for children.