Dear Healthcare Provider:

Do you have a child in need of an MRI?  Or a child with special needs who needs an eeg or a patient who is anxious about a voiding cystourethrogram?  How about a child who needs an abscess drained or a CT scan?  Or a child on who you need to perform a procedure?

The sedation service at ETCH, created in 2004, can help your patients receive these tests and/or procedures safely and efficiently.  This service, created in 2004, is dedicated to improving access to safe sedation for the children of East Tennessee.  Provided by board certified pediatric emergency specialists and dedicated sedation nurses, our goal is to provide safe, consistent, and efficient sedation while also assuring strict compliance with JCAHO and hospital sedation policies.  The continuum from anxiolysis to deep sedation is offered by utilizing medications such as versed, fentanyl, ketamine, dexemedotomidine, nitrous oxide and propofol. 

We have sedated thousands of pediatric patients since our inception and have a complication rate of <1% and a near 100% completion rate. We provide sedation for any and all patients in need of this service and do not reject anyone based on insurance coverage. 

This service is available Monday through Friday from 7am-4pm. We provide sedation for radiology, gastroenterology, oncology, neurology, and minor surgical procedures. If you have a pediatric patient who may need sedation, I would encourage you to consider utilizing East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and our service. 

For procedures requiring sedation, please contact the sedation service at 865-541-8398.  We will ask you to fax an order and complete a sedation screening form.  The sedation service will review the request, screen the patient for sedation, and schedule the examination or procedure.  For those patients who do not meet the clinical criteria for sedation by this service because of medical issues or type of procedure, they will be referred to the Department of Anesthesia. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance at 865-541-8116.

Sincerely,

Frances Craig MD

Medical Director

Pediatric Analgesia and Sedation Specialists, PLLC