The Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba has some extra funds to put towards a program that seeks to close a knowledge gap in pediatric care.

The TREKK program, Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids, is a national network of researchers, clinicians, partners, patients, and families; it's ultimate goal is to improve emergency care for children. According to the TREKK website, most emergency departments operate outside of a children's hospital, so the level of related training and resources can vary.

Dr. Darcy Beer says the TREKK program has two parts: one is to get pertinent information out to medical caregivers.

"You know, we (at the Children's Hospital) see 50,000 kids a year, so I'm very comfortable with most kids conditions. If you're in a small town, you might see half a dozen kids with that a year or less, so that's the idea behind the translating emergency knowledge out there. Often... the evidence can be as (much) as a decade or several decades behind in this standard of care... so the goal is to get that knowledge out there, and how to do that."

The other part involves patients and their families: providing information to them that makes sense and sticks. TREKK takes a story-telling approach while delivering care to kids in emergency rooms.

"It's been shown that, you know, handing a parent a pamphlet or just rattling off some points about a condition as a family's leaving with their child, almost all of it's forgotten. Probably less than 10 per cent of it is actually remembered. So how can we make things more effectively retained by families, and... even sensitive to their needs," says Dr. Beer.

The Manitoba Metis Heritage Fund, the official charity of the Manitoba Metis Federation, yesterday presented the Children's Hospital Foundation with a $50,000 donation for the TREKK program. The money was raised at a gala event on Manitoba Day in May. Fund chair Denise Thomas says it was the first time they've held the gala, and they will hold another next year. Institutions, including the Children's Hospital Foundation, will be able to apply to be partners.