title: Pediatric disaster preparedness and response and the nation's children's hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Children account for 30 percent of the US population; as a result, many victims of disaster events are children. The most critically injured pediatric victims would be best cared for in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. The Children's Hospital Association (CHA) undertook a survey of its members to determine their level of readiness to respond to a mass casualty disaster.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Disaster Response Task Force constructed survey questions in October 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  The survey was distributed via e-mail to the person listed as an "emergency manager/disaster contact" at each association member hospital and was designed to take less than 15 minutes to complete.
  
  
  METHODS
  The survey sought to determine how children's hospitals address disaster preparedness, how prepared they feel for disaster events, and how CHA could support their efforts in preparedness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred seventy-nine surveys were distributed with a 36 percent return rate. Seventy percent of respondent hospitals have a structure in place to plan for disaster response. There was a stronger level of confidence for hospitals in responding to local casualty events than for those responding to large-scale regional, national, and international events. Few hospitals appear to interact with nonmedical facilities with a high concentration of children such as schools or daycares.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Little commonality exists among children's hospitals in approaches to disaster preparedness and response. Universally, respondents can identify a disaster response plan and routinely participate in drills, but the scale and scope of these plans and drills vary substantially.
authors: Disaster Medical Director and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
authors: Kristin C
authors: KC
authors: Lyle
authors: Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado.
authors: Jerrod
authors: J
authors: Milton
authors: Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Fagbuyi
authors: Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado.
authors: Roxanna
authors: R
authors: LeFort
authors: Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Sirbaugh
authors: Miami Children's Hospital, Miami, Florida.
authors: Jacqueline
authors: J
authors: Gonzalez
authors: Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
authors: Jeffrey S
authors: JS
authors: Upperman
authors: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, California.
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Carmack
authors: UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Anderson
mesh_terms: D002959:Civil Defense / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D014481:United States