Pediatric Disaster Preparation in the Prehospital Setting

Recent disaster incidents have shown that pediatric disaster preparedness is more important than ever. Children represent nearly 25% of our population and are one of the most vulnerable groups, making them likely to be victims in disaster incidents. However, in spite of repeated efforts to adequately address the needs of children after disasters, progress for pediatric disaster preparedness has lagged behind efforts to improve general disaster preparedness. Previous disasters have demonstrated that children should be considered as part of the general population when planning occurs. Pediatric expertise and participation in disaster planning and drills would be invaluable in addressing the unique needs of children during these incidents. Furthermore, in order to have a sufficient response to pediatric needs by prehospital providers during a disaster, adequate coordination for pediatric care among emergency medical services systems needs to exist. Recent research has been performed on pediatric disaster triage; pediatric disaster training; pediatric chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) events; pediatric decontamination; and pediatric disaster mental health. This work has advanced the knowledge for this very specialized field. However, further research is necessary to continually improve the quality of care that children receive during and after a disaster incident in the prehospital setting, as the pediatric population will very likely be impacted by disasters to come.