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.


METHODS
This is a descriptive article outlining an innovative automated approach to pediatric decision support and disaster planning.


METHODS
Disaster Resource Centers and umbrella hospitals in Los Angeles County.


METHODS
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.
Neches
Robert
R
University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute, Marina del Rey, USA.
Ryutov
Tatyana
T
Kichkaylo
Tatiana
T
Burke
Rita V
RV
Claudius
Ilene A
IA
Upperman
Jeffrey S
JS
D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D012984:Software