Pedi STAT EMS

Review by eFreeware

Children make up a small share of the calls most prehospital crews run, and that is exactly what makes them difficult. The equipment you reach for and the dose you draw up are different from the adult versions you handle every week, and the numbers have to be right the first time, often in a driveway or at the side of a highway. Pedi STAT EMS is built for that gap: a field reference for providers who care for young patients before they reach a hospital.

The app comes from developer James Kempema and arrived on Google Play in September 2022, with a recent update that reworks navigation and makes calculations clearer. It costs $2.99, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so the whole tool is available the moment you install it. The developer describes it as a companion to the original Pedi STAT app, trimmed down to the parts that matter outside a hospital.

Doses and equipment sizes without the arithmetic

The core of the app is medication dosing and pediatric equipment sizing, both reached quickly and calculated from information the provider enters. A weight, length or age can be entered, or a Broselow or Pediatape estimate used instead. The point is to avoid a chain of mental math while a child is in front of you.

What I find more interesting is that the app goes past the dose itself. It also works out the volume to be given for a patient's specific condition, which is the step where a correct milligram figure can still turn into the wrong syringe. The developer's stated aim is to cut down on medication errors by handling both parts of that calculation, and that is the sort of detail that separates a dosing table from a tool built around how a call actually unfolds.

Algorithms for the calls that go badly

Alongside the dosing side, Pedi STAT EMS includes algorithms and medical calculators for several situations where a crew needs a sequence rather than a single number. Burns with fluid resuscitation, the Glasgow Coma Scale and pediatric cardiac arrest are covered too. These are the moments when a structured prompt is more useful than a search box.

Grouping dosing, equipment and algorithms in one place is the sensible choice for this audience. A provider managing a burned child, for instance, needs an estimate of surface area, a fluid plan and the right dressings and lines, and having those threads in the same reference saves switching between tools mid-call.

What the developer drew on

Out-of-hospital clinicians helped shape the content, among them flight crews, medical directors, EMTs and paramedics. That shows in the framing: the app is pitched at first responders, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and critical care transport providers rather than at a general clinical audience.

That focus is the app's main strength and its main constraint. It is a reference for the field, and the developer has deliberately kept it to the components that suit prehospital work instead of carrying over everything from the original app. If your pediatric practice happens to sit inside a hospital, the selection here will feel narrower than a full clinical reference, which is a reasonable trade for the speed it buys outside one.

Getting it onto a phone

There is little to describe in the way of setup, and that is a point in its favor. You buy the app, install it and use it, with no advertising to work around. Recent updates improved navigation and made calculations clearer.

One practical note is the price. At $2.99 this is a paid download with no in-app purchases behind it, so the cost is settled up front rather than spread across optional extras. For a crew or a service deciding whether to put it on a shared device, that is a simple decision to make.

The developer also invites suggestions for improvements and additions, which is worth knowing if your service has a workflow the app does not yet match.

Who will get the most from it

This is a tool for people who treat children outside a hospital and do so infrequently enough that the numbers do not stay fresh. The content is arranged around out-of-hospital work rather than around a ward.

It also makes sense for services that want a consistent reference across a team, since the same calculations and algorithms are available to everyone carrying it. Medical directors involved in protocol design may find the selection useful as a shared baseline for what crews are checking in the field.

The install figure is modest, over a thousand downloads, which fits a paid niche tool rather than a mass-market one. That is not a problem in itself; specialist references rarely spread widely, and the people who need this one tend to know it.

A field reference worth the three dollars

Pedi STAT EMS does one job and does it in a way that matches how prehospital care is delivered: enter what you know about the patient, get a dose, a volume and an equipment size, and fall back on an algorithm when the call turns serious. The absence of ads and purchases keeps it out of the way when you are using it, and the $2.99 price is a one-time cost rather than an ongoing one.

I would recommend it to paramedics, EMTs, firefighters and transport providers who want pediatric dosing and equipment guidance on the same device they already carry, particularly those who work in services where pediatric calls are uncommon. Providers looking for a broad hospital-oriented pediatric reference will find this one deliberately narrower, because it was built for the back of an ambulance rather than a bedside.

What's new in version 5.4.0

Improved UI for better app navigation and clearer calculations Updated terms of use