About PECARN

What is PECARN?

PECARN is the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, the first federally-funded multi-institutional network for research in pediatric emergency medicine in the United States.

What is PECARN’s goal?

The goal of this network is to conduct meaningful and rigorous multi-institutional research into the prevention and management of acute illnesses and injuries in children and youth across the continuum of emergency medicine health care.

PECARN will work with diverse demographic populations and across varied geographical regions to promote the health of children in all phases of care. To accomplish these tasks, PECARN provides the leadership and infrastructure needed to promote:

To accomplish these tasks, PECARN provides the leadership and infrastructure needed to promote:

  • multi-center studies
  • support research collaboration among EMSC investigators
  • and encourage informational exchanges between EMSC investigators and providers

How is PECARN organized?

The PECARN network consists of:

  • a Data Coordinating Center
  • seven Research Node Centers (RNCs)

Six of the Research Nodes contain three Hospital Emergency Department Affiliates (HEDAs) and one EMS Affiliate. The EMS Research Node contains three EMS Affiliates. PECARN sites represent academic, community, urban, general, and children's hospitals. The PECARN network Emergency Departments serve approximately 1.3 million acutely ill and injured children every year and the 9 EMS affiliates account for more than 113,000 pediatric runs annually.

How is PECARN governed?

The PECARN network is governed by a Steering Committee that formulates and monitors policies and procedures guiding all research activities, and reviews and approves research proposals. All major scientific decisions are made by majority vote.

Subcommittees have been created to carry out specific tasks identified by the Steering Committee:

This website is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the Emergency Medical Services for Children Data Center award totaling $3,200,000 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.