The 2023 Model Core Content of Disaster Medicine.

INTRODUCTION: Disaster Medicine (DM) is the clinical specialty whose expertise includes the care and management of patients and populations outside conventional care protocols. While traditional standards of care assume the availability of adequate resources, DM practitioners operate in situations where resources are not adequate, necessitating a modification in practice. While prior academic efforts have succeeded in developing a list of core disaster competencies for emergency medicine residency programs, international fellowships, and affiliated health care providers, no official standardized curriculum or consensus has yet been published to date for DM fellowship programs based in the United States. STUDY OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work is to define the core curriculum for DM physician fellowships in the United States, drawing consensus among existing DM fellowship directors. METHODS: A panel of DM experts was created from the members of the Council of Disaster Medicine Fellowship Directors. This council is an independent group of DM fellowship directors in the United States that have met annually at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)'s Scientific Assembly for the last eight years with meeting support from the Disaster Preparedness and Response Committee. Using a modified Delphi technique, the panel members revised and expanded on the existing Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) DM fellowship curriculum, with the final draft being ratified by an anonymous vote. Multiple publications were reviewed during the process to ensure all potential topics were identified. RESULTS: The results of this effort produced the foundational curriculum, the 2023 Model Core Content of Disaster Medicine. CONCLUSION: Members from the Council of Disaster Medicine Fellowship Directors have developed the 2023 Model Core Content for Disaster Medicine in the United States. This living document defines the foundational curriculum for DM fellowships, providing the basis of a standardized experience, contributing to the development of a board-certified subspecialty, and informing fellowship directors and DM practitioners of content and topics that may appear on future certification examinations.

Naloxone-associated pulmonary edema in a 3-year-old with opioid overdose.

Background: Annually, close to 5000 children under age 6 years are treated in emergency departments or admitted for care due to opioid exposures. Naloxone is effectively used to treat opioid overdose in both children and adults. Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema is a rare but serious adverse effect of naloxone administration that has been reported in adults. Case Report: We present the case of a 3-year-old male with suspected opioid overdose who developed acute hypoxia due to pulmonary edema after administration of naloxone following a likely prolonged downtime. Why Should an Emergency Physician Be Aware of This?: The copious fluid in the airway made for difficult intubation at a pediatric tertiary care center. Given the incidence of opioid exposures in children, clinicians should be aware of this rare, but dangerous adverse effect of naloxone and consider airway precautions and pediatric critical care availability early in the presentation.

Airway Obstruction from a Tracheal Mass in a 5-Year-Old: A Case Report.

ABSTRACT: Stridor is a common presenting symptom for children in emergency departments (EDs) and usually represents an infectious process, such as croup, or aspiration of a foreign body. We present the case of an otherwise healthy 5-year-old girl with episodic increased work of breathing for several months that was initially diagnosed as asthma by her primary care physician. She subsequently presented to the ED with acutely worsening noisy breathing and dyspnea. Patient and parent denied any recent foreign body ingestions or choking episodes. We gave multiple doses of racemic epinephrine in the ED without symptom improvement. A lateral neck x-ray showed an occlusive subglottic airway mass. Otolaryngology (ENT) evaluation demonstrated an 85% airway occlusion. The mass was partially resected, resolving all of her respiratory symptoms. Although primary airway tumors in children are rare, they must be considered on the differential diagnosis of new noisy breathing or respiratory distress. Failure to diagnose these tumors in a timely manner can be life-threatening.

Utility of Emergency Department Observation Units for Neurologically Intact Children With Head CT Abnormalities Secondary to Acute Closed Head Injury.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the utility of the emergency department observation unit (EDOU) for neurologically intact children with closed head injuries (CHIs) and computed tomography (CT) abnormalities. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of children aged 0 to 18 years with acute CHI, abnormal head CT, and a Glasgow Coma Scales score of 14 or higher admitted to the EDOU of a tertiary care children's hospital from 2007 to 2010. Children with multisystem trauma, nonaccidental trauma, and previous neurosurgical or coagulopathic conditions were excluded. Medical records were abstracted for demographic, clinical, and radiographic findings. Poor outcome was defined as death, intensive care unit admission, or medically/surgically treated increased intracranial pressure. RESULTS: Two hundred two children were included. Median (range) age was 14 (4 days-16 years) months; 51% were male. The most common CT findings were nondisplaced (136, 67%) or displaced (46, 23%) as well as skull fractures and subdural hematomas (38, 19%); 54 (27%) had less than 1 CT finding. The most common interventions included repeat CT (42, 21%), antiemetics (26, 13%), and pain medication (29, 14%). Eighty-nine percent were discharged in less than 24 hours. Inpatient admission from the EDOU occurred in 6 (3%); all were discharged in less than 3 days. One patient required additional intervention (corticosteroid therapy). She had a subdural hematoma, persistent vomiting, intractable headache, and a nonevolving CT. CONCLUSIONS: Neurologically intact patients on initial ED evaluation had a very low likelihood of requiring further interventions, irrespective of CT findings. Although prospective evidence is necessary, this supports reliance on clinical findings when evaluating a well-appearing child with an acute CHI.

Epidemiology of High School Sports-Related Injuries Resulting in Medical Disqualification: 2005-2006 Through 2013-2014 Academic Years.

BACKGROUND: Although rare, season- or career-ending injuries in young athletes are concerning because they can result in time lost from sport participation and school, social costs, and economic costs of medical care. PURPOSE: To describe rates and patterns of medically disqualifying (MDQ) injuries among United States high school athletes overall and by sport, sex, type of athletic activity, and mechanism. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. METHODS: Sports-related injury data on high school athletes were collected during the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years from a large national sample of United States high schools via High School Reporting Information Online (RIO). MDQ injuries were defined as season- or career-ending injuries. RESULTS: From 2005-2006 through 2013-2014, High School RIO captured 59,862 total injuries including 3599 MDQ injuries (6.0% of all injuries). Most MDQ injuries (60.4%) occurred in competition. Football had the highest injury rate (26.5 per 100,000 athlete-exposures), followed by gymnastics (18.6) and wrestling (17.9). MDQ injury rates were higher among girls in the sex-comparable sports of basketball (rate ratio [RR], 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3-2.0), cross-country (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.0-7.5), soccer (RR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3-1.9), and track and field (RR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.7-4.0). Player-player contact (48.2%) was the most common MDQ injury mechanism. The most commonly injured body site was the knee (33.7%). The most common MDQ injury diagnosis was sprains/strains (35.9%); the most common specific MDQ injury was knee sprains/strains (25.4%), with the anterior cruciate ligament being the most commonly injured knee structure. Among boys, fracture was the most common diagnosis in 3 sports, and sprain/strain was the most common in 6 sports. Among girls, sprain/strain was the most common diagnosis in 9 sports, and fracture was the most common only in softball. CONCLUSION: MDQ injuries vary by sport, sex, and type of athletic activity and occur most frequently as a result of player-player contact. These findings should prompt additional research into the development, implementation, and evaluation of targeted injury prevention efforts.

Massive Gastrointestinal Bleed as Presentation for Previously Undiagnosed Coarctation of Aorta.

BACKGROUND: Coarctation of the aorta is a common congenital heart lesion with a known complication of collateral vessel formation if left untreated. OBJECTIVE: To alert pediatric emergency physicians of a rare and life-threatening presentation of previously undiagnosed congenital heart disease in the adolescent. CASE: We discuss the case of a 15-year-old boy who presented with hypertension and massive upper GI bleed due to aortoenteric fistula formation associated with undiagnosed coarctation of the aorta. There are no other reports of a similar presentation in the literature.

Pediatric disaster preparedness and response and the nation's children's hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: Children account for 30 percent of the US population; as a result, many victims of disaster events are children. The most critically injured pediatric victims would be best cared for in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. The Children's Hospital Association (CHA) undertook a survey of its members to determine their level of readiness to respond to a mass casualty disaster. DESIGN: The Disaster Response Task Force constructed survey questions in October 2011. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The survey was distributed via e-mail to the person listed as an "emergency manager/disaster contact" at each association member hospital and was designed to take less than 15 minutes to complete. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The survey sought to determine how children's hospitals address disaster preparedness, how prepared they feel for disaster events, and how CHA could support their efforts in preparedness. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-nine surveys were distributed with a 36 percent return rate. Seventy percent of respondent hospitals have a structure in place to plan for disaster response. There was a stronger level of confidence for hospitals in responding to local casualty events than for those responding to large-scale regional, national, and international events. Few hospitals appear to interact with nonmedical facilities with a high concentration of children such as schools or daycares. CONCLUSIONS: Little commonality exists among children's hospitals in approaches to disaster preparedness and response. Universally, respondents can identify a disaster response plan and routinely participate in drills, but the scale and scope of these plans and drills vary substantially.