Pediatric Healthcare Providers and Disasters:
Have you learned the lessons?
Lou E. Romig MD, FAAP, FACEPPediatric Emergency Medicine
Miami Children’s HospitalTeam Medical Director, FL5 DMAT
Objectives
Taking preparedness personally
Family and business disaster planning
Preparing our patients and their families for disasters
Institutionalizing preparedness
Do healthcare providers have a role in preventive medicine?
Believe it’s worth the investment Practice it ourselves Teach our patients and their families Participate in preventive medicine
efforts Advocate for institutionalization of
preventive health measures
Do healthcare providers have a role in disaster preparedness?
Believe it’s worth the investment
Practice it ourselves
Teach our patients and their families
Participate in disaster preparedness and response efforts
Advocate for institutionalization of disaster preparedness and mitigation
Earthquake in Memphis?
Hurricane in New York?
Tsunami in Alaska?
Terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City?
Terrorist bombing in Bath, Michigan?
Michigan Disasters
Bath school disaster, 1927, 45 dead, mostly children
Tornado outbreak (MI/OH), 1953, 139 dead
Great Blizzard of 1978, 20 dead Detroit theater roof collapse, 1898, 15
dead Italian Hall disaster, 1913, Calumet, 73
dead South-central MI earthquake, 1947
Culture of Preparedness
Disasters don’t happen to places.
Disasters happen to people.
Disasters can happen to us.
Disaster preparedness is a personal responsibility:
My family and friends
My home
My livelihood
My patients
My community
Personal Preparedness
Risk assessment Natural hazards Nonintentional man-made hazards Intentional man-made hazards
Plan for all reasonable hazards
Risk Assessment: Natural
Weather Geography
Home Schools Office/Hospital
Epidemiology Port of entry Travel destination
Risk Assessment: Man-made
Seats of government/politics Symbolic institutions and icons Commerce and industrial centers Transportation centers Military bases Religious and cultural institutions Schools Medical facilities Mass gathering sites
Personal Planning
Share your plans with family, friends and co-workers
Know the plans at family members’ schools and workplaces
Review and exercise your plans. Involve the kids!
Learn from your own experiences and those of others
Personal and Family Disaster Planning Resources
www.aap.org/healthtopics/terrorism.cfm AAP Family Readiness Kit http://www.aap.org/family/frk/frkit.htm
www.redcross.org www.ready.gov www.fema.gov http://www.nod.org/research_publications/
emergency_preparedness_materials/ www.jumpstarttriage.com
Plan to protect your livelihood
Have disaster plans for your office and staff
Have appropriate hazard and business interruption insurance
Protect patient and business records. Make them transportable.
Plan how to continue your practice if your office is not functional
Make sure your patients know your plans
A Disaster Preparedness Plan for Pediatricians
Scott Needle MD, FAAP
Mississippi Chapter AAP
http://www.aap.org/disasters/pdf/DisasterPrepPlanforPeds.pdf
Teaching patients and families
Disaster preparedness should be a part of anticipatory guidance.
Clinicians should assist families in disaster planning for children with special healthcare needs and other chronic illnesses.
Teaching patients and families
Remember that any acute medical need can be a “disaster” for a family.
Use tools like the AAP’s Emergency Information Form.
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/blankform.pdf
Participate: Planning
Local planning/training Schools/childcare facilities Shelters Hospitals EMS agencies Community Emergency Response
Teams (CERTs) Local NGO programs Faith-based programs
Participate: Planning
Regional/state planning Professional associations
• AAP, AMA
Healthcare networks Public Health Departments State EMS for Children Programs
Great volunteers…
Know the system in which they are enlisted to work
Have their credentials established and verified before the disaster
Understand liability issues
Know how to live and work in austere conditions
Bring their own supplies and support
Have the support of their families and co-workers
Institutionalizing Preparedness
Teach children about disaster preparedness
Incorporate disaster preparedness into workplace policies and procedures
Teach professions about pertinent aspects of disaster preparedness and response
Institutionalizing Preparedness
Disaster preparedness incentives
Overcome financial obstacles to personal preparedness
Study the tangible value of preparedness and mitigation
Tackle liability issues
Institutionalizing Preparedness
Recognize the strengths and limits of generosity and use it responsibly
Take the best advantage of volunteerism
Build strong teams
Review
Turn knowledge into action
Take disasters personally
It’s OK to be selfish
Like injury and illness prevention and workplace safety measures, disaster preparedness should be a matter-of-fact part of our lives
Review
Recognize the tangible values of preaction instead of reaction
Get on a team
Play well together