How We Choose Our Resources

TREKK conducted a survey of healthcare professionals and parents/families in general emergency departments across Canada. Through this survey, respondents identified the childhood conditions that they would like more information on to provide the best care to children in emergency departments. Using this information, TREKK began to collect existing, evidence-based resources for these conditions to share on trekk.ca.

TREKK collects resources for each condition using a “knowledge pyramid” framework. The top level of the pyramid is called “Bottom Line Recommendations” and represents the most condensed and summarized information for healthcare professionals working in emergency settings. Moving down the pyramid, resources become more in-depth and specific as different sources of information are included.

In order to bring together the most current, evidence-based resources available, TREKK works collaboratively with Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence  Dr. Sarah Elliott, Dr. Lisa Hartling and Liza Bialy to oversee the search, screening and collection of evidence, alongside content advisors with expertise in each condition. Content advisors are pediatric researchers identified by the TREKK Steering Committee based on their experience dealing with and researching specific conditions. 

TREKK Content Advisors:

1. Acute Otitis Media - Dr. Nicole Le Saux, Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO); Clinical Investigator, CHEO Research Institute; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa.
2. Acute Pain - Dr. Samina Ali, MDCM, FRCPC (PEM); Assistant Dean of Professionalism, Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics & Emergency Medicine, University of Alberta & Dr. Amy L. Drendel, DO, MS; Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
3. Anaphylaxis - Dr. Waleed Alqurashi, Clinical Investigator, CHEO Research Institute; Pediatric Emergency Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, CHEO; Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa & Dr. Anne Ellis, Associate Professor, Division Chair, Allergy & Immunology, Queen's University. 
4. Asthma & Croup -  Dr. David Johnson, TREKK Co-Director Implementation; Pediatric Emergency Physician; Medical Toxicologist; Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology and Pharmacology; Theme Lead, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine.
5. Bronchiolitis - Dr. Amy Plint, TREKK Board of Directors; Emergency Pediatrician, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO); Senior Investigator, CHEO Research Institute; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa.
6. Concussion - Dr. Roger Zemek, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute; Director of Research, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, CHEO; Physician, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, CHEO; Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa; Chair, Pediatric Concussion Guideline Development, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation; Co-Chair: Diagnosis and Early Education Working Group, Ontario Concussion/Mild Traumatic.
7. Congenital Heart Defect and Heart Failure - Dr. Karen Black, Pediatric Emergency Physician, BC Children's Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia.
8. Diabetes Ketoacidosis - Dr. Sarah Reid, Emergency Pediatrician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO); Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa; Director, Continuing Medical Education, CHEO; Clinical Investigator, CHEO Research Institute.
9. Fever - Dr. Brett Burnstein, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCPC, FAAP; Clinical Research Scholar, Pediatric & Emergency Medicine, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre. 
10. Fractures - Dr. Kathy Boutis, Physician, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children; Senior Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences; Associate Professor, University of Toronto.
11. Gastroenteritis - Dr. Stephen Freedman, Physician; Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, Sections of Emergency Medicine and Gastroenterology; Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute Healthy Outcomes Theme Group Leader.
12. Intussusception - Dr. Blake Bulloch, Division Chief, Emergency Medicine, Phoenix Children's Hospital;Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ & Dr. Zebulon Timmins, Physician, Emergency Medicine/Urgent Care, Phoenix Children's Hospital.
13. Meningitis - Dr. Sarah Curtis, Physician; FRCPC (PEM), Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta.
14. Multi-system trauma (including severe head injury & thoracoabdominal trauma) - Dr. Suzanne Beno, Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto;  Co-Director Trauma Program, Co-Director Paediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship, The Hospital for Sick Children. 
15. Procedural Sedation - Dr. Lisa Evered, MD, FRCPC; Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta; Stollery Children's Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta & Dr. Maala Bhatt,  MD, MSc., FRCPC; Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
16. Sepsis - Dr. Graham Thompson, Physician; Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine.
17. Status epilepticus - Dr. Lawrence Richer, Associate Professor/Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Alberta & Dr. Egidio Spinelli, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta.
18. Special needs (e.g. autism spectrum disorder & fetal alcohol syndrome disorder) – Dr. Andrea Losier, Assistant Professor and Emergency Medicine Pediatrician, CHEO, Dr. William Craig, Associate Professor/Emergency Pediatrics, University of Alberta & Dr. Ana Hanlon Dearman, Developmental Pediatrician and Medical Director of the Section of Developmental Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health in Winnipeg; Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health with the University of Manitoba 
19. Suspected physical child abuse - Dr. Amy Ornstein, MDCM, MSc, FRCPC, FAAP; Medical Director, IWK Suspected Trauma and Abuse Response Team (START); Head, Division of General Pediatrics, Dalhousie University; Assoicate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University & Dr. Kathy Boutis, Physician, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children; Senior Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences; Associate Professor, University of Toronto & Dr. Carmen Coombs, MD, IWK; Director of Postgraduate Training for the pediatric emergency department, IWK. 
20. Urinary Tract Infection - Dr. Gina Neto, Clinical Investigator, CHEO Research Institute; Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Associate Chief, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) & Dr. Nicole LeSaux, Clinical Investigator, CHEO Research Institute; Physician, Division of Infectious Disease, CHEO; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa

For each condition, the research librarian performs a preliminary literature search for clinical practice guidelines from professional medical associations (e.g., Canadian Paediatric Society), peer-reviewed systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials from reputable journals (e.g., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Pediatrics). We select individual studies that have been pre-appraised and selected for high-quality systematic reviews. The research librarian and content advisor then work together to review the evidence and to select resources specific to the categories in the knowledge pyramid framework and applicable to the TREKK audience.

The intent of trekk.ca is to provide a user-friendly directory of links to existing online resources. As such, free resources are selected whenever possible. In cases where a resource requires a payment or subscription to access, the user is directed to the abstract for the resource in order to offer some level of information.

TREKK recognizes that health information and evidence changes rapidly. As such, trekk.ca completes a full review of the resources for each condition a minimum of every two years.

We want to ensure that new research findings are available to our end users. The TREKK co-directors are leading researchers within pediatric emergency medicine and child health and the TREKK Network is well placed to keep updated on new research findings in this field. These connections include:

1)      Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) – chaired by Dr. Stephen Freedman (TREKK Board of Directors), this network of health care professionals was formed in 1995 to conduct multi-centre research projects. Currently PERC has 15 sites situated across Canada, within teaching or pediatric hospitals.

2)      Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN) –this group brings together five international research networks:  Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC); Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee (USA); Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (USA); Pediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (Australia and New Zealand); and Research in European Pediatric Emergency Medicine (Europe and Middle East)

Broken links: in addition, trekk.ca checks links to external websites and resources on a monthly basis in order to make sure that the site remains current and user-friendly. If you come across a broken link, please do not hesitate to contact us.

TREKK strives to find the best possible evidence relating to pediatric emergency medicine, and put it into the hands of the healthcare professionals working in emergency departments across Canada. As such, we are open and transparent in the work we do and with regards to the resources we provide. 

All TREKK-produced resources are posted to trekk.ca with a production date, a date of review and a legal disclaimer.

TREKK works with a Parent Advisory Group in order to ensure that resources for parents on trekk.ca are clear, appropriate and meet the needs of patients and families.

TREKK welcomes and encourages feedback from users through the “Send us Feedback” option available throughout trekk.ca.

We also welcome resource suggestions from users through our “Suggest a Resource” option on trekk.ca. All suggested resources are sent to the TREKK Central Administration Team who review them to ensure that they meet the criteria of Health on the Net. After that, each resource is viewed by one PERC representative as well as one PERC site coordinator for approval. Each month, the TREKK Steering Committee receives an update on all new resources that have been added to trekk.ca.