Lay summary
Each year 250,000 children present to New Zealand's Emergency Departments. Although presentations are common the evidence base for paediatric emergency medicine (PEM) is not as extensive as it should be. Yet presentations are often critical, and carry a risk of death or substantial disability if the child is not appropriately managed. Internationally I'm one of a handful of PEM specialists with a PhD. I have been extensively involved with the setting up of local and international PEM networks and have successfully led research. I will use this fellowship to consolidate New Zealand's PEM evidence base by undertaking three projects; an international randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the management of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus utilising a new treatment (levetiracetam), a RCT of prednisolone for pre-school wheeze, and a cluster randomised trial of PEM knowledge translation. These projects will have a profound impact on management internationally and local evidence based practice.