Paediatric Emergency Department at Flinders Medical Centre

The Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) Paediatric Emergency Department sees around 18,000 paediatric presentations each year, and is an integrated service within one of the busiest tertiary mixed Emergency Departments in Australia. 

As a whole, the FMC Emergency Department sees a total of 90,000 presentations each year, and is both a designated state trauma centre as well as the obstetric trauma centre for South Australia. 

Consumer Health Information

SALHN Paediatric Consumer Health information is available online.

Training with us

The FMC Paediatric ED (PED) is accredited by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) for up to 12 months of Advanced Training time in Paediatric Emergency Medicine.

The department is supported on-site by accredited Paediatric and Neonatal units, as well as a wide range of surgical specialities. On-site Critical Care support is provided by an adult Intensive Care service, as well as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Our Paediatric inpatient service also encompasses the state-wide Paediatric Eating Disorders Unit, and oversees one of two Child Protection Units in South Australia. 

Trainee support

Both training and education is central to the service, and we pride ourselves on providing a positive learning culture for all of our trainees.

The unique needs of individual trainees are acknowledged, with trainees able to access either education programs of our PED or general ED as well as various additional education opportunities within our integrated service model.

We have the capacity to assist trainees in completion of their Emergency or Paediatric training, with access to onward rotations to Major Referral, Major Referral, Urban District and Rural/Regional Emergency Departments, as well as units specialising in adult trauma, paediatrics and paediatric emergency, ICU, anaesthetics and retrieval medicine. 

Trainees in the FMC PED are exposed to a broad range of paediatric presentations, gaining experience in paediatric and neonatal resuscitation, general paediatric medicine and paediatric trauma management. In addition, we provide training around advanced paediatric sedation and ultrasound. Trainees are well supported by highly experienced clinicians, including specialist Paediatric Emergency consultants with experience from world-class institutions both here in Australia as well as internationally.

There are also a wide range of quality improvement activities that interested trainees can take advantage of.

Expanded Paediatric Emergency Department

The Paediatric Emergency Department (ED) and Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) has recently been expanded as part of the $8.5 million upgrades to the ED at FMC, and the larger $86 million Southern Health Expansion Plan.

The new Paediatric ED includes 13 new and refurbished treatment spaces, better separation from adult areas and new equipment to ensure staff have the right tools to continue providing high quality care.

Take a tour of the new underwater themed Paediatric Emergency Department: