EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS BY CHILD REFUGEE CLAIMANTS AT A PEDIATRIC TERTIARY CARE CENTER

The Canadian government has announced the resettlement of 50 000 refugees from the Middle East by 2018. The proportion of refugees that are below 18 years of age have increased from 20% to almost 40% from 2005 to 2014 and is expected to increase further with new refugee influxes. Barriers to timely health care can worsen clinical presentations and outcomes, especially in vulnerable children such as refugees. This study aims to provide an overview of the epidemiology, clinical presentations, hospital stay metrics, and non-clinical support needs for child refugee claimants presenting to the emergency department at a large tertiary care hospital in Canada