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52 MAY 2016 | EMSWORLD.com C h i l d A b u s e a n d N e g l e c t : Man dat o r y R ep o r tin g f o r EM S Pr ov id er s What to look for, what to report and how By Matt Concialdi, MS, NR-P, & Stacee Read, BA, MSW O ut of an estimated 60 million children in the United States, three million cases of child abuse and neglect will be reported each year. 1 In 2012 1,640 children died as the result of child abuse and neglect, and there are concerns not all deaths are reported. 2 Thousands of children abused and neglected every year fall through the cracks. We are all taught in EMS education that it is mandatory to report, but how do we recognize child abuse and neglect, and how do we report it? Congress has reported that "the failure to coordinate and comprehen - sively prevent and treat child abuse and neglect threatens the futures of thousands of children and results in a cost to the nation of billions of dollars in tangible expenditures, as well as significant intangible costs." 2 According to the Child Maltreatment 2012 report, 81% of the children abused were abused by one or both of their parents, and 88% were bio- logical parents. These are the people taking care of children on a daily basis who are supposed to love and care for them—and the people we are likely to come across. Over 80% of perpetrators of child abuse and neglect were between the ages of 18–44, and, shockingly, 53% were females, 45% were males. The majority of the victims were children younger than 3, the lion's share being under a year old. Both neglect and physical abuse have their highest rates in the age group of birth to age 2. The second-highest rate of abuse is found among kids 3–5. 3 The 12–14 age group experiences the most sexual abuse. Of the reported cases of child abuse, neglect accounts for roughly 78%, physical abuse 18%, sexual abuse 9%, and emotional abuse 6%. 1,3 But what training on recognizing neglect do EMS providers receive? What Is Child Abuse and Neglect? In 1974 the federal government passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which created a federal definition of maltreat-