EMS Reported Unprepared to Care for Children in Disasters

DALLAS, Texas — The American Academy of Pediatrics believes most licensed U.S. prehospital emergency medical service agencies are “significantly unprepared” to appropriately care for pediatric patients during a disaster, basing the conclusion on a recent study. In “Prehospital Preparedness for Pediatric Mass-Casualty Events,” researchers surveyed 1,932 EMS service agencies, finding that while 72.9 percent reported having a written response plan for mass-casualty events, only 13.3 percent included pediatric-specific procedures.