Tamil Nadu is leading the way in child health care with its amazing Paediatric Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (PREM) program. This smart initiative has set up specialized centers in government secondary hospitals like district headquarters and taluk hospitals to give sick children the urgent care they need. Thanks to this, child survival rates have jumped impressively! PREM is one of the six important parts of the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI). There are now 116 PREM centers in Tamil Nadu’s public hospitals, including 41 medical education institutions and 75 district and taluk hospitals. M. Vijayakumar, Deputy Director and Team Lead at TAEI, proudly shared that survival rates climbed from 93.44% in 2021 to 96.26% in 2024, with 94.34% survival so far this year. The number of children admitted to these centers also soared from 21,586 in 2021 to 80,907 in 2025! The idea for PREM came from a model created by the Institute of Child Health (ICH) and Hospital for Children in Egmore. Indumathy Santhanam, Project Coordinator at ICH, explained, “We developed guidelines and trained doctors to quickly assess and treat sick children. This helped cut down deaths in hospitals. PREM began in 2017 with units in 28 hospitals and has been growing ever since.” Before PREM, children in emergency often had to be rushed without proper care to big hospitals. Now, even taluk hospitals can provide immediate emergency treatment with trained teams, drugs, and equipment ready to save lives during the crucial 'golden hour', says Dr. Vijayakumar. For example, a two-year-old child with a serious head injury was quickly stabilized at the Government Headquarters Hospital, Kancheepuram PREM unit. Doctors treated her brain swelling and arranged a timely transfer to ICH. Thanks to early care, she recovered fully without brain damage. Dr. Indumathy highlighted, “Delayed action used to cause serious harm or death. PREM ensures neurological intact survival and reduces pressure on intensive care units across Tamil Nadu.” Hundreds of doctors and nurses train regularly at the PREM skills lab at ICH, established in 2019, to keep their lifesaving skills sharp. With PREM, Tamil Nadu is not just saving children’s lives; it’s giving them a brighter, healthier future with quick, expert emergency care right where they live.