title: Creating a regional pediatric medical disaster preparedness network: imperative and issues.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPHB 330, 1530 3rd Avenue South, 35294-0022, USA. pginter@uab.edu
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ginter
authors.forename: Martha Slay
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wingate
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rucks
authors.forename: Rachel D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Vásconez
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: Crayton A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Fargason
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology