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.

Design: This is a descriptive article outlining an innovative automated approach to pediatric decision support and disaster planning.

Settings: Disaster Resource Centers and umbrella hospitals in Los Angeles County.

Patients: 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.