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Chapter 15 - Pediatrics in a Field Hospital

from Section 4 - Clinical Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2020

By
Vladislav Dvoyris  and
Tarif Bader
Edited by
Elhanan Bar-On ,
Kobi Peleg  and
Yitshak Kreiss
Elhanan Bar-On
Affiliation:
The Israel Center for Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Response, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
Kobi Peleg
Affiliation:
National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, The Gertner Institute for Health Policy and Epidemiology and Tel-Aviv University, Disaster Medicine Department
Yitshak Kreiss
Affiliation:
Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
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Summary

It has been reported that 50% of the affected during natural or man-made disasters are children. They have unique vulnerabilities that require unique and specific management. It is therefore vital to understand the optimal management in pediatric emergencies, and to consider efforts regarding pediatric preparedness and response in humanitarian situations.

This chapter reviews the necessary means of pediatric care that must be included in medical relief delegations, and proposes a structure for a dedicated medical team, as well as necessary logistic and administrative considerations.

A triage algorithm is described, considering three key parameters: urgency, available resources, and the likelihood of saving a patient’s life. Ethical dilemmas posed by the above approach are discussed as well.

Lastly, the authors discuss the necessary collaboration between the pediatric team and the traumatology and obstetrics/gynecology departments, and describe the structure and function of a pediatric ward in a field hospital, based on experience from medical relief delegations deployed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after natural disasters in Haiti and Nepal.

Keywords

Pediatric carefield hospitalemergency carepediatric traumatologyneonatal carenatural disasterspediatric triageethical dilemmasmedical relief
Type
Chapter
Information
Field Hospitals
A Comprehensive Guide to Preparation and Operation
 , pp. 140 - 147
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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