Chapter 11 : Unique needs of children during disasters and other public health emergencies

Infants, children, and adolescents have unique physiological and psychosocial needs during and after disasters and public health emergencies. The injury and illness patterns following exposure to nuclear biological, and chemical agents may be different from those patterns assessed in adults. Treatment options for adults may be inappropriate, or unavailable for children. Children with special health care needs also requiere refinements to their care. Nurses and health care professionals must be aware of pediatric considerations during disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and evaluation efforts, and must be prepared to modify their approaches accordingly. This chapter discusses the epidemiology of disasterrelated injuries and illnesses in pediatric population. The physiological and psychosocial aspects of children applicable to disaster and public health emergencies are described. Injury and illness patterns following natural, explosion, nuclear, biological, and chemical disasters are discussed, and current treatments recommendations are offered. Interventions from field through emergency department and hospitalization care addressed. Pediatric-related rescourses for disaster planning are included (AU)

The pediatrician's role in disaster preparedness

This statement provides pediatricians with an overall view of disasters and disaster management and delineates the role of the pediatrician in disaster preparedness.(AU)

The Avianca plane crash : An emergency medical system's response to pediatric survivors of the disaster

Objective: On January 25, 1990, a jetliner crashed on Long Island, New York. Twenty-two children survived the crash. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergency medical system's response to these pediatric survivors. Conclusions:Pediatric survivors were neither adequately triaged not transported to appropriate facilities which could optimize their care. Possible explanations for this include (1) unique features of the rescue operation, (2) limited pediatric training of prehospital personnel, and (3) deficiencies of the regional disaster plan. Emergency medical services systems and disaster plans can be made more responsive to children's needs by (1) acknowledging that children have special needs requiring referral, (2) improving the training of prehospital personnel in pediatric emergency care, (3) classifying ill and injured children according to appropriate triage criteria, (4) recognizing existing tertiary care pediatric centers as the optimal location for the treatment of critically ill and injured children, and (5) designating these ecenters as the appropriate transport destination for critically ill and injured children (AU)

Role of pediatricians in disasters and mass casualty incidents

In disaster planning, the role of the specilist is often overlooked. That role, for the pediatrician, entails being familiar with hospital and community disaster plans and agreeing to take part in implementation of these plans by: (1)before a disaster, teaching special pediatric emergency techniques to emergency medical technicians and paramedics, being sure that pediatric supplies and equipment are available in ambulances, checking to see that pediatrics needs have been considered in designated evacuation shelters, and, for disasters occurring in one's own hospital, being sure that evacuation routes are known and that means of notifying parents have been set up; (2) during a disaster, helping to determine which pediatric patiens can be discharged from the hospital or transferred to another hospital if beds are needed for accidents victims, and being available as needed according to the plans; and (3) after a disaster, counseling parents and children on how to cope with the stress and fear of having been involved in a disaster. The emergency pediatrician active in disaster planning has a responsibility to see that the services of pediatricians in general practice are incorporated into those plans

Sistemas pediátricos de atención de emergencia / Pediatric systems for emergency care

Esta es una revisión acerca de los nuevos conceptos de emergencia, su diferenciación con la urgencia, sobre los componentes de atenció pediatrica de emergencia en sus partes prehospitalaria y hospitalaria: sobre el triage y escalas pronósticas de la lesión para identificar un niño críticamente enfermo (AU)