A Las Vegas girl who went into cardiac arrest in a hospital parking lot a year ago stood alongside her medical team this week as that same emergency department earned a distinction no other hospital in Nevada holds: the state's first pediatric-ready emergency room. Erin Harris, now 10, survived without oxygen for 25 minutes, according to her mother, before the team at Sunrise Children's Hospital brought her back.
Sunrise Children's Hospital held a recognition ceremony this week after being named the first pediatric-ready emergency department in Nevada under the state's new Nevada Pediatric Emergency and Readiness Level program, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Erin, now a fifth-grader who has since returned to school, attended the ceremony with the medical team that treated her. Her cardiac arrest happened the night of August 27, 2025, in the Sunrise Children's Hospital parking lot, and hospital staff are credited with saving her life. She celebrated her 10th birthday on August 5.
What Pediatric-Ready Status Actually Requires
The designation is not a ceremonial title. Pediatric-ready status requires staff trained specifically in pediatric emergency protocols, pediatric-specific equipment and medications, designated pediatric care coordinators, and quality-improvement processes focused on children's outcomes, per the same account from the Sun. The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health said the status requires a thorough emergency-department readiness assessment before it can be awarded.
Dr. Jacob Snow, medical director of Sunrise Children's Hospital's pediatric emergency department, said children's emergency care must address developmental, emotional and physiological needs that go beyond simply treating a smaller body. He said the designation validates the work Sunrise teams have done in the community for more than 40 years. The Nevada program, developed by the state's Emergency Medical Services for Children initiative, actually sets four tiers of recognition — Peds Ready Plus, Peds Ready +, Peds Ready Advanced, and Peds Ready Advanced +, according to the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.
A Deeply Personal Case, and a Doctor Who Wouldn't Quit
Dr. Snow told Erin's mother, Biana Pettway, that he could not make any promises during her daughter's crisis, but also told her he would not give up. Sunrise Children's Hospital CEO Todd Sklamberg said caring for children and families has been central to the hospital's work for almost 40 years, and added that the emergency department's 2025 patient volume reflects both community need and family trust. The hospital's emergency department cared for 50,000 children last year alone.
Why Readiness Numbers Matter Nationally
The stakes behind the designation are backed by hard numbers. High-readiness emergency departments are associated with a 76% lower mortality rate for critically ill children and a 60% lower mortality rate for injured children, figures cited in the Sun's report. Nationally, the 2021 National Pediatric Readiness Project assessment found emergency departments scored a median of just 69.5 out of 100, well below the 88-point threshold classified as high pediatric readiness, according to the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center. That gap matters because roughly 80% of American children seeking emergency care are treated in general emergency departments rather than specialized children's hospitals, the center notes.
A November 2024 study led by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and Children's National Hospital estimated that achieving universal high pediatric readiness nationwide would cost between $0 and $12 per child resident annually, depending on the state, according to Children's National Hospital. A 2024 NIH-funded study estimated that universal high readiness could save more than 2,100 children's lives annually across the country. Separately, a July 2024 multi-year study published in JAMA Network Open found trauma centers with high pediatric readiness saved an additional 643 children's lives over an eight-year period, compared with 729 preventable pediatric deaths at low-readiness centers, per the EMSC Improvement Center.
Filling a Regional Gap in Children's Care
The designation lands in a metro area with a notable hole in its pediatric infrastructure. A September 2024 study from the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine found Las Vegas was the only U.S. metropolitan area with more than 2 million residents lacking an independent, full-service children's hospital, meaning families here rely heavily on pediatric departments embedded within larger general hospital systems. Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, which shares its Winchester campus with Sunrise Children's Hospital, is Nevada's largest acute care facility with 701 beds and operates as a Level II trauma center, according to Wikipedia.
Sunrise has been building out its pediatric and trauma capacity on multiple fronts this year. In July, the hospital recruited Dr. Taryn Bragg as Las Vegas' only full-time pediatric neurosurgeon, expanding in-state brain and spine care for kids. And in March, a Nevada district judge cleared a legal obstacle allowing Sunrise Hospital to pursue Level I adult trauma designation, a move that would expand its emergency infrastructure alongside the children's hospital. Statewide, Nevada's Emergency Medical Services for Children Program has also distributed more than 400 specialized pediatric restraint systems to fire and EMS agencies to improve safety during ambulance transports.
For Erin Harris and her family, the statistics translate into something simpler: a hospital that didn't give up on a 10-year-old in cardiac distress outside its own doors, and a system now formally recognized for being built to do exactly that.
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