Pamela Okada, M.D.

Interim Chief, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Pediatrics - Emergency Medicine
Traumatic Brain Injury

Biography

Pamela J. Okada, M.D., F.A.A.P., is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Dr. Okada received her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in 1990, and completed her pediatric residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical School (1990-1993), and her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (1993-1996). She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Dr. Okada is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and the Medical Director of the Plano Children's Emergency Department. Her research interests include areas in pediatric head injury and neurologic outcome.

In 2019, Dr. Okada received UT Southwestern's Patient and Family Recognition Award.

Education & Training

Fellowship - Children's Health Dallas (1994-1996), Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Medical School - Tulane University School of Medicine (1986-1990)
Residency - Harbor - UCLA Medical Center (1990-1993), Pediatrics
Fellowship - Harbor - UCLA Medical Center (1993-1994), Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Graduate School - UT Southwestern Medical School (2005-2011), Clinical Science
Other Post Graduate Training - University Texas Southwestern Medical Center (1994-1996)

Professional Associations & Affiliations

American Academy of Pediatrics (1997)
Ambulatory Pediatric Association (1997)
Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (1998-2006)
Pediatric Society of Greater Dallas, Editorial Board (2010)
Texas Pediatric Society, Section of Emergency Medicine and Child Abuse (2003)
Dallas County Medical Society (2003)
American College of Emergency Physicians (2003)
Co-Director Pediatric Trauma Course, Istanbul Turkey (2012)

Honors & Awards

Patient and Family Recognition Award – UT Southwestern 2019
Alpha Omega Alpha 1989

Books & Publications

Books
- The Adolescent Pregnant Patient in Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Just the Facts, 2nd edition, G. Strange, W. Ahrens, R. Schafermeyer, R. Wiebe, H. Prendergast, V. Dobiesz, eds.
  Okada PJ, Rodriguez AM, Sheffield JS (2012), McGraw-Hill
- Submersion Injury in Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22nd edition, C. Rudolph, A. Rudolph, G. Lister, A. Gershon, eds.
  Okada PJ, Baker MD (2011), McGraw-Hill
- Reduction of Common Joint Dislocations and Subluxations in Textbook of Pediatric Emergency Procedures, 2nd edition, C. King, F. Henretig, B. King, J. Loiselle, R. Ruddy, J. Wiley, eds.
  Johnson FC, Okada PJ (2008), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Gastrointestinal Emergencies in Current Diagnosis & Treatment Pediatric Emergency Medicine, C. Stone, R. Humphries, D. Drigala, M. Stephan, eds.
  Okada PJ, Minkes RK (2015), McGraw-Hill Education; 413-442.
- Dysmenorrhea and Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding in Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Just the Facts, 2nd edition, G. Strange, W. Ahrens, R. Schafermeyer, R. Wiebe, H. Prendergast, V. Dobiesz, eds.
  Okada PJ, Uribe M (2012), McGraw-Hill
- Nontraumatic Surgical Emergencies in APLS: The Pediatric Emergency Medicine Resource, 5th edition, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, eds.
  Okada PJ, Hicks B (2011), Jones & Bartlett Learning
- Approach to the Acutely Ill Patient: Seizures in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 1st edition, J. Baren, S. Rothrock, J. Brennan, L. Brown, eds.
  Marr J, Okada PJ (2008), Philadelphia, Saunders Elsevier
Publications
- Application of the Bacterial Meningitis Score for Infants Aged 0 to 60 Days.
  Rees CA, Cruz AT, Freedman SB, Mahajan P, Uspal NG, Okada P, Aronson PL, Thompson AD, Ishimine PT, Schmidt SM, Kuppermann N, Nigrovic LE, Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2019 Dec 8 6 559-562
- Randomized Trial of Three Anticonvulsant Medications for Status Epilepticus.
  Kapur J, Elm J, Chamberlain JM, Barsan W, Cloyd J, Lowenstein D, Shinnar S, Conwit R, Meinzer C, Cock H, Fountain N, Connor JT, Silbergleit R, The New England journal of medicine 2019 11 381 22 2103-2113
- Objective Evaluation of a Simulation Course for Residents in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Department: Breaking Bad News.
  Yuan YY, Scott S, Van Horn N, Oke O, Okada P, Cureus 2019 Jan 11 1 e3903
- Management of Pain After Pediatric Trauma.
  Day LM, Huang R, Okada PJ Pediatric emergency care 2019 Jan
- Presenting Characteristics Associated With Outcome in Children With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Secondary Analysis From a Randomized, Controlled Trial of Therapeutic Hypothermia.
  Rosario BL, Horvat CM, Wisniewski SR, Bell MJ, Panigrahy A, Zuccoli G, Narayanan S, Balasubramani GK, Beers SR, Adelson PD Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies 2018 10 19 10 957-964
- Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Infants Undergoing Meningitis Evaluation.
  Cruz AT, Freedman SB, Kulik DM, Okada PJ, Fleming AH, Mistry RD, Thomson JE, Schnadower D, Arms JL, Mahajan P, Garro AC, Pruitt CM, Balamuth F, Uspal NG, Aronson PL, Lyons TW, Thompson AD, Curtis SJ, Ishimine PT, Schmidt SM, Bradin SA, Grether-Jones KL, Miller AS, Louie J, Shah SS, Nigrovic LE Pediatrics 2018 Jan
- Impact of Enteroviral Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing on Length of Stay for Infants 60 Days Old or Younger.
  Aronson PL, Lyons TW, Cruz AT, Freedman SB, Okada PJ, Fleming AH, Arms JL, Thompson AD, Schmidt SM, Louie J, Alfonzo MJ, Monuteaux MC, Nigrovic LE The Journal of pediatrics 2017 Jul
- Therapeutic Hypothermia after In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Children.
  Moler FW, Silverstein FS, Holubkov R, Slomine BS, Christensen JR, Nadkarni VM, Meert KL, Browning B, Pemberton VL, Page K, Gildea MR, Scholefield BR, Shankaran S, Hutchison JS, Berger JT, Ofori-Amanfo G, Newth CJ, Topjian A, Bennett KS, Koch JD, Pham N, Chanani NK, Pineda JA, Harrison R, Dalton HJ, Alten J, Schleien CL, Goodman DM, Zimmerman JJ, Bhalala US, Schwarz AJ, Porter MB, Shah S, Fink EL, McQuillen P, Wu T, Skellett S, Thomas NJ, Nowak JE, Baines PB, Pappachan J, Mathur M, Lloyd E, van der Jagt EW, Dobyns EL, Meyer MT, Sanders RC, Clark AE, Dean JM The New England journal of medicine 2017 01 376 4 318-329
- Interpretation of Cerebrospinal Fluid White Blood Cell Counts in Young Infants With a Traumatic Lumbar Puncture.
  Lyons TW, Cruz AT, Freedman SB, Neuman MI, Balamuth F, Mistry RD, Mahajan P, Aronson PL, Thomson JE, Pruitt CM, Shah SS, Nigrovic LE Annals of emergency medicine 2016 Dec
- Pediatric Fractures Secondary to Trampoline Injury: A Prospective Analysis of User Circumstances and Injury Severity with Respect to American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement
  Ho C, Phelps J, Evans N, Okada P, Wilson P. J Pediatr Emerg Intensive Care Med 2016 3 1-10
- Outpatient Management of Young Febrile Infants With Urinary Tract Infections.
  Schnadower D, Kuppermann N, Macias CG, Freedman SB, Agrawal D, Mao J, Dayan PS Pediatric emergency care 2014 Aug
- Controlled clinical comparison of new pediatric medium with adsorbent polymeric beads (PF Plus) versus charcoal-containing PF medium in the BacT/alert blood culture system.
  Doern CD, Mirrett S, Halstead D, Abid J, Okada P, Reller LB Journal of clinical microbiology 2014 Jun 52 6 1898-900
- Lorazepam vs diazepam for pediatric status epilepticus: a randomized clinical trial.
  Chamberlain JM, Okada P, Holsti M, Mahajan P, Brown KM, Vance C, Gonzalez V, Lichenstein R, Stanley R, Brousseau DC, Grubenhoff J, Zemek R, Johnson DW, Clemons TE, Baren J JAMA 2014 Apr 23-30 311 16 1652-60
- Comparison of hypothermia and normothermia after severe traumatic brain injury in children (Cool Kids): a phase 3, randomised controlled trial.
  Adelson PD, Wisniewski SR, Beca J, Brown SD, Bell M, Muizelaar JP, Okada P, Beers SR, Balasubramani GK, Hirtz D The Lancet. Neurology 2013 Jun 12 6 546-53
- A randomized clinical trial of recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous versus intravenous rehydration in mild to moderately dehydrated children in the emergency department.
  Spandorfer PR, Mace SE, Okada PJ, Simon HK, Allen CH, Spiro DM, Friend K, Harb G, Lebel F Clinical therapeutics 2012 Nov 34 11 2232-45
- Can novice sonographers accurately locate an endotracheal tube with a saline-filled cuff in a cadaver model? A pilot study
  Uya A, Spear D, Patel K, Okada PJ, Sheeran P, McCreight A Academic Emergency Medicine 2012 19 3 361-364
- Sterile Cerebrospinal Fluid Pleocytosis in Young Febrile Infants With Urinary Tract Infections.
  Schnadower D, Kuppermann N, Macias CG, Freedman SB, Baskin MN, Ishimine P, Scribner C, Okada P, Beach H, Bulloch B, Agrawal D, Saunders M, Sutherland DM, Blackstone MM, Sarnaik A, McManemy J, Brent A, Bennett J, Plymale JM, Solari P, Mann DJ, Dayan PS Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine 2011 Jul 165 7 635-41
- Febrile infants with urinary tract infections at very low risk for adverse events and bacteremia.
  Schnadower D, Kuppermann N, Macias CG, Freedman SB, Baskin MN, Ishimine P, Scribner C, Okada P, Beach H, Bulloch B, Agrawal D, Saunders M, Sutherland DM, Blackstone MM, Sarnaik A, McManemy J, Brent A, Bennett J, Plymale JM, Solari P, Mann DJ, Dayan PS Pediatrics 2010 Dec 126 6 1074-83
- Effect of clarithromycin on cytokines and chemokines in children with an acute exacerbation of recurrent wheezing: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
  Fonseca-Aten M, Okada PJ, Bowlware KL, Chavez-Bueno S, Mejias A, Rios AM, Katz K, Olsen K, Ng S, Jafri HS, McCracken GH, Ramilo O, Hardy RD Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology 2006 Oct 97 4 457-63
- Childhood injuries caused by falling televisions.
  Ota FS, Maxson RT, Okada PJ Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2006 Jun 13 6 700-3
- A comparison of the influence of hospital-trained, ad hoc, and telephone interpreters on perceived satisfaction of limited English-proficient parents presenting to a pediatric emergency department.
  Garcia EA, Roy LC, Okada PJ, Perkins SD, Wiebe RA Pediatric emergency care 2004 Jun 20 6 373-8
- A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of phenytoin for the prevention of early posttraumatic seizures in children with moderate to severe blunt head injury.
  Young KD, Okada PJ, Sokolove PE, Palchak MJ, Panacek EA, Baren JM, Huff KR, McBride DQ, Inkelis SH, Lewis RJ Annals of emergency medicine 2004 Apr 43 4 435-46
- Recalibration of the pediatric risk of admission score using a multi-institutional sample.
  Chamberlain JM, Patel KM, Pollack MM, Brayer A, Macias CG, Okada P, Schunk JE Annals of emergency medicine 2004 Apr 43 4 461-8
- Bedside ketone determination in diabetic children with hyperglycemia and ketosis in the acute care setting.
  Ham MR, Okada P, White PC Pediatric diabetes 2004 Mar 5 1 39-43
- Neurologic outcome score for infants and children.
  Okada PJ, Young KD, Baren JM, Raroque SS, Huff KR, Wiebe JB, Stavinoha PL, Lewis RJ Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2003 Oct 10 10 1034-9
- Capnometry for noninvasive continuous monitoring of metabolic status in pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis.
  Garcia E, Abramo TJ, Okada P, Guzman DD, Reisch JS, Wiebe RA Critical care medicine 2003 Oct 31 10 2539-43
- Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of glutamate in children with bacterial meningitis as a predictor of the development of seizures or other adverse outcomes.
  Ma W, Shang-Feaster G, Okada PJ, Kernie SG Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies 2003 Apr 4 2 170-5
- Surgical Emergencies in the Neonate
  Okada PJ, Hicks B Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine 2002 March 3 (1) 3-13
- Drowning and Near Drowning
  Okada PJ, Levin D Essentials of Pediatric Intensive Care 1996 Textbook
- The Pneumatic Antishock Garment
  Okada PJ, Lewis RJ Illustrated Textbook of Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care Procedures 1996 Textbook

Research

Traumatic brain injury
Pediatric trauma outcomes research

Clinical Focus

Traumatic Brain Injury