Pediatric Preparedness for Healthcare Coalitions

Webinar Held June 20, 2013; Sponsored by the Hospital Preparedness Program.

Meeting Summary:

• HPP Special Topics National Call:  Pediatric Preparedness for Healthcare Coalitions
  

Annotated List of Resources and Tools presented during the Webinar.

Federal Government Resources

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Decontamination of Children: This 27-minute video demonstrates for emergency responders and hospital emergency department staff how to safely decontaminate children who have been exposed to hazardous chemicals, including those from a bioterrorist attack.  
• Pediatric Hospital Surge Capacity in Public Health Emergencies: This review provides recommendations for clinicians and hospital administrators to develop unique responses to mass casualty events involving pediatric patients and addresses consequence management after a public health emergency, such as pandemic influenza.  
• Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
• ABC Resource Library:  ASPR’s Division for At-Risk Individuals, Behavioral Health, and Community Resilience (ABC) has compiled fact sheets, tools, videos, reports, and partner resources. 
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Caring for Children in a Disaster:  Information for parents, teachers, schools, childcare centers, doctors, and nurses who can help children get ready for and cope with disasters. 
• Coordinating Pediatric Medical Care During an Influenza Pandemic: Hospital Workbook: This workbook is intended to assist hospitals with coordinating medical care for pediatric influenza-like illness (ILI) across their community.  Although many of the suggestions were based on experiences with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, this tool can be adapted for use during pandemic spread of a novel influenza virus.  This tool is presented in two sections, identified by type of hospital focus: Children’s Hospital Focus and General Hospital Focus. 
  
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• Kids in Disasters: Facing Our Challenges: This archived webcast highlights innovations in pediatric disaster preparedness including innovative reunification systems and triage algorithms. 
• PEDPrepared: This pediatric disaster resource clearinghouse from the EMS-C National Resource Center brings together information, tools, and resources to assist health care providers, emergency planners, and families to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disaster or pandemic involving the pediatric population.
• Medical Reserves Corps (MRC)
• The MRC engages volunteers to strengthen public health, emergency response, and community resiliency.  
• National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH)
• Curriculum Recommendations for Disaster Health Professionals: The Pediatric Population:  This peer-reviewed set of pediatric-focused curriculum recommendations is a reference tool developed to aid in disaster education and training for health professionals.  
• Tracking and Reunification of Children in Disasters: A Lesson and Reference for Health Professionals: Approved for CME/CE accreditation; two additional modules are under development.  
• National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM)
• Resource Guide For Disaster Medicine and Public Health: This guide is a gateway to freely available online resources related to disaster medicine and public health.  Resources include expert guidelines, fact sheets, websites, research reports, articles, and other tools aimed at the public health community. Items available include:
• Disaster Preparedness: Are We Ready for Kids? 
• Hospital Pediatric Preparedness Checklist
• Pediatric Surge Planning: Train the Trainer 
• Pediatric Trauma and Disaster 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has information on:  
• Natural Disasters
  
• Terrorism  
• Psychological First Aid 

Partner Organization Resources

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• Children & Disasters Website: Disaster planning resources and other information for pediatricians, hospitals, child care providers, schools, and others. 
• Pediatric Preparedness Resource Kit:  Developed in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, this kit allows for pediatricians, public health leaders, and other pediatric care providers to assess what is already happening in their community or state, and help determine what needs to be done before an emergency or disaster.  The kit will promote collaborative discussions and decision making about pediatric preparedness planning.  
• Preparedness Checklist for Pediatric Practices: In the event of a large-scale calamity, state and federal authorities may not be able to deliver assistance until days later, so the pediatric office should have fundamental supplies to ensure self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours. Plan for supplies you will keep in your Office Disaster Kit. ​
• California Neonatal/Pediatric Disaster Coalition
• This coalition connects Pediatric, Neonatal, NICU, PICU, Hospital, Emergency Department, and Disaster professionals with ideas, information, resources, and strategies for supporting regional pediatric surge and disaster preparedness throughout California and the United States.  
• Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
• Public Health Practices: Enhancing Emergency Preparedness & Response: This site serves as a one-stop shop for tools and strategies to respond to the health consequences of disasters and emergencies.  Materials provide concrete preparedness and response practices from state and local health departments, government agencies at all levels, and colleges and universities.  Sample practices include:
• September 2012 edition: Pediatric Partnerships 
• Toolkit paves the way for hospitals to meet children’s needs during a disaster
• Women and Infants Service Package (WISP)
• Children’s Hospital Boston and Massachusetts General Hospital
• Pediatric Disaster Medicine: Practical Approaches with a Focus on the Haiti Response: This presentation describes the presenting injuries and medical conditions in children seen in an NDMS field hospital post-earthquake and discusses the evaluation and management of pediatric disaster victims in an austere environment, including adaptation of adult equipment and supplies.  
• Greater New York Hospital Association
• Emergency Preparedness Plans and Tools:  A Resource Guide for Health Care Providers, Second Edition:  This guide facilitates emergency preparedness and response activities by health care providers and their communities by outlining key plans, tools, and other resources available to support health care providers’ planning and response activities. 
• Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies
• Medical and Public Health Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Considerations for Children and Families: Workshop Presentations & Materials:  The workshop reviewed tools, frameworks, and past experiences on topics including: healthcare coalitions and their challenges, benefits, and best practices; integrating children- and family-serving organizations into state and local planning; understanding the barriers to financing healthcare for children in emergencies; examining the needs of children and families related to shelter operations, nutrition, family reunification, mental health, and temporary child care; existing best practices and future potential strategies for emergency response; fostering recovery through community resilience; and approaches and interventions that promote the social and economic well-being of children after disasters.
• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC-DOHMH), Office of Emergency Preparedness
• Pediatric Preparedness: This site houses resources that will assist hospitals to prepare for pediatric victims and their families during disasters.  Items available include:
• Children in Disasters: Hospital Guidelines for Pediatric Preparedness
• NYC Hospital Pediatric and Neonatal Resource Directory
• Pediatric Disaster Hospital Tabletop Exercise Toolkit
• New York City Pediatric Disaster Coalition (NYC-PDC)
• This coalition was established in 2008 to build a coalition of hospitals, public health, municipal services, and community groups to ensure effective use of critical assets during and after a large-scale disaster affecting children.  Activities and products developed include: pediatric surge planning and drills, NICU surge and evacuation planning, pre-hospital triage criteria, resource directories, and collaboration with community groups and other coalitions.  
• Southeastern Regional Pediatric Disaster Response Network (SRPDRN)
• This is a voluntary network of health care providers, public health departments, volunteers, and emergency responders from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  The purpose of the network is to provide regional pediatric surge capacity and resources in the event of large-scale emergencies or disasters that overwhelm local or state pediatric resources.  

Additional Resources

• Developing Pediatric Emergency Preparedness Performance Measures.  Markenson and Krug (2009):  This article offers recommendations for government agencies at the federal, regional, and local levels, public health departments, and health care institutions to aid in the development of pediatric emergency management performance measures.  
• Guidelines for the Care of Children in the ED.  American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Emergency Nurses Association, (2009):   Recommendations regarding personnel, training, equipment, supplies, medications, support services, quality and process improvement, policies, protocols, and other resources necessary for optimal pediatric care. 
• Pediatric Aspects of Hospital Preparedness.  Monteiro, Shannon, Sandora, and Chung, (2009): This article emphasizes key emergency response aspects of hospital preparedness for disasters involving children, in particular hospital-based incident command, strategies for operational continuity, pediatric principles of surge capacity, development of decontamination protocols, infection control, sheltering in place, and evacuation strategies.