Mission of the Pediatric Admissions and Emergency (Professionals) Division
The Pediatric Admissions and Emergency Division (SAUP) is the Division that sees and admits pediatric patients in Emergency. It is open 24 hours a day, and its medical team sees children who are sick or injured, from birth to the age of 16. Medical and paramedical services respond in the best possible way to the needs of the Geneva population, those in other Swiss cantons and neighboring France, whether they are life-threatening emergencies, relative emergency situations or simply situations that parents or children feel are urgent.
Care for children and their parents
When a child arrives at SAUP, he/she is managed by a specialist nurse who, after collecting information about the reason for the consultation and a quick examination of the child, determines the level of urgency to receive medical attention.
After the child's details are entered into the administrative system, patients and their guardians are directed to the waiting room, before being called to the consultation cubicle.
The pediatrician notes the information provided by the nurse, and performs a full clinical examination of the child. Sometimes, additional investigations are required (for example blood tests, urine tests, X-rays, etc...). Once a diagnosis is made, the doctor informs the parents about the condition, answers any questions they may have, and, if necessary, prescribes treatment.
On average, 12% of children who come into SAUP are kept in hospital for observation and essential treatment. These children, depending on their age and condition, are admitted to one of various divisions in the Children's Hospital: neonatal unit, intensive care unit, medical, surgical or orthopedic units.
Some figures
Every year more than 27,000 children are examined in our emergency center, 65% for medical reasons and 35% because of surgical needs and trauma.
Half of the children are under 5 years old, and a third are under 3 years.
In two thirds of cases, these emergency situations do not require hospitalization or urgent treatment. Nevertheless, we take great care to understand why the parents consulted our emergency center, in order to provide advice and reassurance about their child's health. For one third of the consultations, the child's condition requires active medical treatment or additional investigations. In less than 1% of consultations, the child's condition is directly life-threatening, and naturally in such cases the child is immediately managed by our most skilled personnel
Current research
A task of the SAUP is to carry out clinical studies in order to achieve a better understanding of the pathogenesis of certain diseases, and to improve diagnosis.
Current studies are looking at:
- the determination of new markers for bacterial infection and inflammation
- the etiology of community-acquired pneumonia.
Premises
In June 2004, new facilities were opened after four years of construction.
We have 11 consultation cubicles, a five-bed monitoring room and a resuscitation area.
