Emergency Drills and Exercises in Healthcare Organizations: Assessment of Pediatric Population Involvement Using After-Action Reports

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ferrer RR ; Iverson E ; Ramirez M ; Sauser K ; Upperman JS
• Description:
  Background: Although the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires healthcare organizations to demonstrate disaster preparedness through the use of disaster exercises, the evaluation of pediatric preparations is often lacking. Our investigation identified, described, and assessed pediatric victim involvement in healthcare organizations' disaster drills and exercises using data from after-action reports. Methods: Following the IRB approval, the authors reviewed the after-action reports generated by healthcare organizations after a disaster drill and exercise, as a self-assessed reporting tool for JCAHO regulations. Forty-nine of these reports that were voluntarily supplied to the emergency medical services agency were collected. The authors analyzed the data using quantitative and qualitative analytic approaches. Results: Only nine reports suggested pediatric involvement. Hospitals with large bed capacity (M= 465.6) tended to include children in exercises compared with smaller facilities (M = 350.8). Qualitative content analysis revealed themes such as lack of parent-child identification and family reunification systems, ineffective communication strategies, lack of pediatric resources and specific training, and unfamiliarity with altering standards of pediatric care during a disaster. Conclusions: Although many organizations are performing disaster exercises, most are not including pediatric concerns. Further work is needed to understand the basis for this gap in emergency preparedness. Overall, pediatric emergency planning should be a high priority for this vulnerable population. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Disaster Planning Emergencies Family Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  After-action Reports Author Keywords: Pediatric Population Children Data Processing Disaster Planning Disaster Preparedness Disaster Response Drills Effectiveness Research Emergency Emergency Management Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Families Health Care Health Care Facilities Health Care Personnel Humans Medical Facilities Medical Personnel Performance Capability Qualitative Analysis Quantitative Analysis Training Training Effectiveness Work Operations

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• ISSN:
  1932-149X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Illinois ; Iowa ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23-32
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062270
• Citation:
  Am J Disaster Med 2009 Jan/Feb; 4(1):23-32
• Contact Point Address:
  Rizaldy R. Ferrer, PhD, Research Analyst, Pediatric Disaster Resource and Training Center, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Disaster Medicine
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4497d7468ed015d93bf956b0ff2169f3d8f93cb7079906f666f35599f2d592e2f076a1278f9ffe9653ccd64ec560b7fb24e2c9359e6f9088f60ef492a1d14a24
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225551/cdc_225551_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 77.90 KB ]