Creating a regional pediatric medical disaster preparedness network: imperative and issues

Over the past few decades, the number of disasters, both natural and human initiated has increased. As a result, since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, there has been a new emphasis on disaster preparedness. However, the preparedness emphasis has been primarily...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Maternal and child health journal 2006-07, Vol.10 (4), p.391-396
Main Authors: Ginter, Peter M, Wingate, Martha Slay, Rucks, Andrew C, Vásconez, Rachel D, McCormick, Lisa C, Baldwin, Stephen, Fargason, Crayton A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Child
Child Health Services - organization & administration
Children & youth
Childrens health
Disaster management
Disaster Planning - organization & administration
Disasters
Disasters - statistics & numerical data
Emergency medical care
Emergency Medical Services - organization & administration
Emergency Medical Services - standards
Emergency preparedness
Health care
Health Services Needs and Demand
Hospitals
Humans
Pediatrics
Population
Prevalence
Public health
Regional Medical Programs - organization & administration
September 11 terrorist attacks-2001
Terrorism
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:Over the past few decades, the number of disasters, both natural and human initiated has increased. As a result, since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, there has been a new emphasis on disaster preparedness. However, the preparedness emphasis has been primarily directed toward adults and little attention has been specifically given to the needs of children. One reason for the lack of attention to pediatric needs in disaster planning is that childhood is seldom viewed as a separate and special stage of growth, fundamentally different from adulthood. The expectation during emergencies is that the care provided for adults is appropriate for children. The purpose of this paper is to examine the types of and increase in disasters and discuss the importance of specifically addressing the special needs of children in disaster planning. Further the paper argues for a regional network approach to emergency pediatric care that would increase surge capacity for children during disasters and other emergencies.
ISSN:1092-7875
1573-6628
DOI:10.1007/s10995-006-0084-0