title: Impact of disaster drills on caregiver perception and satisfaction in the pediatric emergency department.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to assess caregiver perception and satisfaction of a regional disaster drill in a pediatric emergency department (ED).
  
  
  METHODS
  Caregivers of children receiving care during a 2-hour disaster drill were given a survey regarding perceived importance of the drill, waiting time to see a physician, service timeliness, impact on comfort, and overall recommendation of the ED. As a control, the survey was also given to caregivers a week before and after the drill.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caregivers on the drill date were more likely to consider drill conduction to be highly important (100% vs 82.9%, P < 0.045). Compared with the drill date, there were no significant differences in the perceived duration of waiting, impact on care, or likelihood to recommend the ED to others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a single regional disaster drill, we found that caregivers feel that disaster drills are important and unlikely to impact care of children negatively. These findings can help support decision making by hospital administrators to commit personnel and resources to conduct necessary disaster drills involving children.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO, USA. Charney@slu.edu
authors: Rachel L
authors: RL
authors: Charney
authors: Kathy L
authors: KL
authors: Lehman-Huskamp
authors: Eric S
authors: ES
authors: Armbrecht
authors: Robert G
authors: RG
authors: Flood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016544:Patient Simulation; D012938:Social Perception