Resource Utilization in Children who Receive a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Consult in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Over two-thirds of children admitted to PICU from the ED required early critical care interventions, with the remainder potentially benefitting from closer monitoring or a higher frequency of non-critical care interventions than can be reasonably provided on general inpatient wards. More research is needed to evaluate critical care and hospital resource utilization when children are triaged to the ward following a PICU consult in the ED.