Karyn chats us through the deteriorating patient, what to look for and how to treat these patients and the PEWS score system and function 

Top Tips  

1) Remember that you are assessing a point in time  

2) Be very aware of where they have been and where you think they are going when carrying out the examination 

2) If you think the child is ok to return home, coach the family so that they know what to look for and how to access the necessary healthcare if things change 

Resources and links: 

Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) 

https://www.clinicalguidelines.scot.nhs.uk/nhsggc-paediatric-clinical-guidelines/nhsggc-guidelines/surgery/paediatric-early-warning-score-pews/ 

ScotSTAR paediatric Retrieval Service 

https://www.snprs.scot.nhs.uk/ 

Dr Karyn Webster is a GP primarily; she works in Forth Valley Emergency Department as a Senior Specialist and is the current Forth Valley GP Out of Hours clinical lead. She also teaches regularly with Basics Scotland and has developed the Adult and Paediatric Tele-education program. 

In addition to this she is the current Chair for the Pre-hospital Paediatric Life Support Group run by ALSG and is a course director for both PHPLS and APLS. Passionate about education and support for our Pre-hospital providers.  

Her career started off in Grampian and quickly evolved into a mix of general practice and emergency medicine with an interest in remote and emergency care. Heavily involved in tele-medicine delivering healthcare to the remote areas of Grampian without the need for travel and later supporting Oil Rig platforms and Ship to Shore work.  

Her twitter handle is @kittyabdn