How ready is P.E.I. for potential COVID-19 hospitalizations in kids?

With COVID-19 cases now in several schools in Prince Edward Island, it is a worrying time for parents.

CBC News received an email from a group of concerned parents asking about P.E.I.'s capacity to care for children who may become very ill with COVID-19.

"If God forbid one of our kids ended up in ICU, does P.E.I. have the ability to help our kids and are there ventilators for them here? Would they need to be airlifted to somewhere like IWK or somewhere else? And if they did, would parents be able to go with them?" the email asked.

CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin posed the queryto Dr. Trevor Jain, an emergency room physician at P.E.I.'s main hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"We are prepared, we've beenpreparing since March of 2020," Jain said.

Each child that comes into the emergency department, we treat like our own. Dr. Trevor Jain

However, he added, P.E.I. does not have a dedicated pediatric intensive care unit.

"But we look after critically sick children. We intubatesick children, we resuscitate sick children," he said. "As somebody who has intubated and ventilated pediatric patients over the last 15 years ... we're not new to looking after our vulnerable populations."

"Each child that comes into the emergency department, we treat like our own," Jain said. "We give it our all and they get excellent care.

Jain said there are ventilators available, not separated into adult and child sizes but rather adjustable for lung capacity and rate of flow. Jain said the same ventilator could be used for an infant or an elderly patient.

'Stay the course'

What happens if a caregiver brings a child with suspected COVID-19 to the QEH emergency department?

The waiting room there has been divided into two parts since the pandemic began, Jain said. One side is a respiratory treatment unit, where the child would be taken to a special room and may be given high-flow oxygen. Jain said the unit is set up to intubate patients and place them on a ventilator if needed.

Once the child has been resuscitated, Jain said staff will call the IWKHealth Centre (the Maritimeregion's children's hospital) and Life Flight and have aconversation to set up a medical evacuation, or medevac,flight.

Because the flight will arrive more quickly without the added weight of the child's parent or caregiver, they are usually not allowed to travel with the patient, flight paramedic, flight nurse and pilot.

"It has to do with the weight that the helicopter is able to take, fueland time to get there," Jain explained.

He advises parents to "stay the course" and continue to fight COVID-19 as they have been, by wearing masks and washing hands.

"I would liketo see us 100 per cent vaccinated. I get it,that kids right now under 12 can't be vaccinated," he said. "But we can protect them ... by making sure parents are vaccinated," he said. Going to school is good for kids' mental health too, he pointed out.

Jain said he also has children and he feels safe with his kids on the Island.

"I'm comfortable that if something serious was to happen respiratory-wise with COVID-19, that they're going to get the bestcare anywhere at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital or Prince County Hospital.

"We're setup to look after this patient population, and we're going to give them the best care possible," Jain concluded.