Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Guidelines

ILLINOISEmergencyMedicalServicesforChildrenIllinoisEmergencyMedicalServicesforChildrenisacollaborativeprogrambetweentheIllinoisDepartmentofPublicHealthandLoyolaUniversityMedicalCenterPediatricDisasterPreparednessGuidelines■Prevention/Mitigation................................................................................................................................................5■Preparedness...............................................................................................................................................................6■Response....................................................................................................................................................................10■Recovery....................................................................................................................................................................12Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................................................13PediatricPreparednessChecklist........................................................................................................................................14Footnotes..............................................................................................................................................................................19AdditionalReferences..........................................................................................................................................................20PediatricDisasterPreparednessGuidelinesPage2AcknowledgementsTheseguidelinesweredevelopedbyIllinoisEmergencyMedicalServicesforChildrenunderthedirectionoftheIllinoisTerrorismTaskForce’sPediatricBioterrorismWorkGroup.IllinoisEmergencyMedicalServicesforChildrenisacollabora-tiveprogrambetweentheIllinoisDepartmentofPublicHealthandLoyolaUniversityMedicalCenter.ThePediatricBioterrorismWorkGroupiscomposedofphysicians,nurses,paramedics,pharmacologistsandstate/localhealthdepartmentpersonnelaswellasrepresentativesfromkeyorganizations,suchastheAmericanRedCross,IllinoisAssociationofSchoolNurses,IllinoisChapteroftheAmericanAcademyofPediatrics,IllinoisCollegeofEmergencyPhysicians,IllinoisHospitalAssociation,IllinoisStateCounciloftheEmergencyNursesAssociation,IllinoisMedicalEmergencyResponseTeamandIllinoisPoisonCenter,amongothers.Inaddition,wearegratefultoanumberofindividuals,committeesandorganizationsfromthroughoutthestatewhoreviewedandprovidedcriticalfeedbackasthisdocumentwasdrafted.HowtoUseTheseGuidelinesTheseguidelinesareofferedasaresourceinaddressingtheneedsofchildrenduringdisasterplanning.Pleasenotethattherecommendationsintheseguidelinesdonotindicateanexclusivecourseoftreatmentorserveasastandardofmedicalcare.Tailortheseguidelinestomeettheneedsofyourorganizationandconsultwithkeyrepresentativeswithinyourorganizationtoensurecompliancewithstateandfederallaws.Medicalknowledgeisconstantlychangingandevolving.Theserecommendationsarebasedoncurrentinformationandguidelinesfoundwithinthemedicalliterature.Variationsmaybeappropriatewhentakingintoaccountindividualcircum-stances.NOTE:Thisdocumentdefinesthepediatricagerangeas15yearsofageandyoungerinaccordancewiththeEmergencyMedicalServicesandTraumaCenterCodeadoptedbytheIllinoisDepartmentofPublicHealth.Exceptionsmayincludethepopulationofchildrenwithspecialhealthcareneeds.PediatricDisasterPreparednessGuidelinesPage3OverviewTherearemorethan3millionchildrenundertheageof18inIllinoistodayandnearly900,000areage5andyounger.1Intheeventofaterroristattackinthestate,thesechildrenwouldbeoneofthemostvulnerablepopulations.Itisimportanttonotethatchildrenaremorevulnerablethanadultsinmanyways.2■Achild’sconditioncanshiftfromstabletolife-threateningquiterapidlybecausehe/shehaslessbloodandfluidreserves,ismoresensitivetochangesinbodytemperature,andhasafastermetabolism.■Childrenhavesmallercirculatingbloodvolumesthanadultssoiftreatmentisnotimmediate,relativelysmallamountsofblood/fluidlosscanleadtoirreversibleshockordeath.■Childrenhavedevelopmentalvulnerabilitiesnotsharedbyadults.Infants,toddlersandyoungchildrendonothavethemoto