The EWOK Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating Weight Of Kids in the prehospital setting: a prospective cohort study
IRAS ID
259874
Contact name
Karl Charlton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 17 days
Research summary
The weight of children is the cornerstone of their clinical care and determines fluid quantity, drug dosage and defibrillation power. Paediatric patients who attend the emergency department (ED) are routinely weighed prior to any treatment. This is not currently possible in the ambulance. Instead, Paramedics use a guidance chart categorised by age (one-11 yrs old) to determine weight as suggested by UK ambulance guidelines (JRCALC). Little evidence exists to determine how accurate this guidance is and recent research suggests it may underestimate a child's weight, with obvious health consequences.
A large systematic review suggests any weight guidance formula should achieve a minimum 70% accuracy rate before being accepted as accurate; this study sets out to determine the accuracy of ambulance weight guidance calculations by comparing the ambulance calculated weight to the actual weight of patients who are physically weighed in the ED.
Study trained Paramedics will seek consent in the ambulance from parents/legal guardians of none time critical children aged between 1yrs old and 11yrs old to contact the ED at a later date to obtain their child's hospital acquired weight. All patients will receive standard ambulance care/treatment based upon current JRCALC weight guidance and all normal pathways will be followed. When appropriate, assent will be sought from the child.
This study will be conducted over a eight month period between April/May - December 2019 and will recruit all eligible patients who pass through the ambulance service. After arrival at the ED the research team will make no further contact with the parents/legal guardians of participating children.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0217
Date of REC Opinion
15 Apr 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion