title: Design and evaluation of a disaster preparedness logistics tool.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute, Marina del Rey, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neches
authors.forename: Tatyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ryutov
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kichkaylo
authors.forename: Rita V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Ilene A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Claudius
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Upperman
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D012984:Software