Using robotic telecommunications to triage pediatric disaster victims.

PURPOSE: During a disaster, hospitals may be overwhelmed and have an insufficient number of pediatric specialists available to care for injured children. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of remotely providing pediatric expertise via a robot to treat pediatric victims. METHODS: In 2008, Los Angeles County held 2 drills involving telemedicine. The first was the Tri-Hospital drill in which 3 Los Angeles County hospitals, one being a pediatric hospital, participated. The disaster scenario involved a Metrolink train crash, resulting in a large surge of traumatic injuries. The second drill involved multiple agencies and was called the Great California Shakeout, a simulated earthquake exercise. The telemedicine equipment installed is an InTouch Health, Inc, Santa Barbara, CA robotic telecommunications system. We used mixed-methods to evaluate the use of telemedicine during these drills. RESULTS: Pediatric specialists successfully provided remote triage and treatment consults of victims via the robot. The robot proved to be a useful means to extend resources and provide expert consult if pediatric specialists were unable to physically be at the site. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine can be used in the delayed treatment areas as well as for training first receivers to collaborate with specialists in remote locations to triage and treat seriously injured pediatric victims.

Disaster and mass casualty events in the pediatric population.

Recent disasters involving pediatric victims have highlighted the need for pediatric hospital disaster preparedness. Although children represent 25% of the U.S. population, there are significant gaps in pediatric disaster preparedness across the country. Disaster planners and others tend to overlook pediatric needs, and therefore plans are often inadequate. To establish an effective hospital and community-based pediatric disaster management system, administrative and hospital leadership are key. Disaster planners and hospital leadership should establish and improve their management of pediatric victims in the event of a disaster through staff training, family reunification planning, and use of available pediatric disaster management tools.

Design and evaluation of a disaster preparedness logistics tool.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to describe the development and testing of the Pediatric Emergency Decision Support System (PEDSS), a dynamic tool for pediatric victim disaster planning. DESIGN: This is a descriptive article outlining an innovative automated approach to pediatric decision support and disaster planning. SETTINGS: Disaster Resource Centers and umbrella hospitals in Los Angeles County. PATIENTS: The authors use a model set of hypothetical patients for our pediatric disaster planning approach. RESULTS: The authors developed the PEDSS software to accomplish two goals: (a) core that supports user interaction and data management requirements (e.g., accessing demographic information about a healthcare facility's catchment area) and (b) set of modules each addressing a critical disaster preparation issue. CONCLUSIONS: The authors believe the PEDSS tool will help hospital disaster response personnel produce and maintain disaster response plans that apply best practice pediatric recommendations to their particular local conditions and requirements.

Hospital-based disaster preparedness for pediatric patients: how to design a realistic set of drill victims.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report is to describe an innovative idea for hospital pediatric victim disaster planning. DESIGN: This is a descriptive manuscript outlining an innovative approach to exercise planning. SETTING: All hospitals. PATIENTS: In this report, we describe a model set of patients for pediatric disaster simulation. RESULTS: An epidemiologically based set of mock victims. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that by enhancing pediatric disaster simulation exercises, hospital personnel and decision makers will be better prepared for an actual disaster event involving pediatric victims.