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Ohio Emergency
Medical Services for Children

Children have special needs in disaster situations. Special considerations for children include, but are not limited to: • Pediatric sized equipment and medication doses. • Child care for the children of disaster response workers. • Plans for the decontamination of pediatric patients. • Training for the triage of pediatric patients in mass-casualty events. • Disaster shelters for children with special health care needs.     Following are some resources that may help you prepare your system for the unique needs of pediatric patients: "Helping our Children Deal with War" from the National Mental Health Association The American Academy of Pediatrics has created a new website area dedicated to disaster preparedness for children National EMSC Resource Center American Red Cross "Masters of Disaster:Fire Prevention and Safety"     Part of the Columbia Iniversity Mailman School of Public Health, this site offers resources to medical professionals and the general public about how to incorporate children's needs into all aspects of disaster preparedness. Program for Pediatric Preparedness

Jump START Field Pediatric Multicasualty Triage System - Lack of objective triage criteria for pediatric patients may allow rescuers' natural emotional responses to injured children to influence their clinical judgement during the triage process. The START rapid triage system, developed by the Newport Beach (CA) Fire and Marine Department and Hoag Hospital, has become one of the most widely recognized formal MCI triage systems. The system is built around the premise that rapid primary triage (less than 30 sec/patient) based on assessment of Respirations, Perfusion, and Mental status (RPM) is effective in maximizing limited resources. The START originators admit that this system is not for use in pediatric patients. In an effort to compose a rapid triage system for children, Lou E. Romig, MD, FAAP, FACEP from Miami Children’s Hospital has taken the same basic RPM approach and created an algorithm modeled after the START system.

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