J Trauma
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Emergency preparedness training is crucial for all health professionals, but the physiologic, anatomic, and psychologic differences between children and adults necessitates that health professionals receive training specific to pediatric emergencies. Before a standardized, nationally disseminated pediatric curriculum can be developed or endorsed, evidence-based evaluations of short- and long-term outcomes need to be conducted. ⋯ To achieve evidence-based pediatric emergency preparedness training, existing training programs must be evaluated, standardized training guidelines need to be developed, and critical components of pediatric disaster response need to be captured in the academic literature.
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Each year, pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounts for 435,000 emergency department visits, 37,000 hospital admissions, and approximately 2,500 deaths in the United States. TBI results in immediate injury from direct mechanical force and shear. Secondary injury results from the release of biochemical or inflammatory factors that alter the loco-regional milieu in the acute, subacute, and delayed intervals after a mechanical insult. ⋯ However, all phase III clinical trials investigating pharmacologic monotherapy for TBI have shown no benefit. A recent National Institutes of Health consensus statement recommends research into multimodality treatments for TBI. This article will review the complex pathophysiology of TBI as well as the possible therapeutic mechanisms of progenitor cell transplantation, hypertonic saline infusion, and controlled hypothermia for possible utilization in multimodality clinical trials.
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Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children. During the last few decades, trauma systems have evolved to improve the care of the injured with an ultimate goal of saving lives. As a result, pediatric trauma centers (PTC) have been established to optimize outcomes for injured children. We sought to determine whether injured children treated at PTC or adult trauma centers (ATC) with added qualifications to treat injured children receive better trauma care than those treated at other hospitals or trauma centers. ⋯ Although this analysis does not provide a definitive answer to the question as to which type of trauma center provides better care for injured pediatric patients, it identifies current gaps and disparities in the care of injured children that can be remedied through education and training.
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For many pediatric intensive care units that routinely operate at near maximal census, planning for a surge of critically ill children in the event of a disaster can be daunting. This brief review discusses the framework of surge planning, alterations of standards of care, and providing critical care outside of the pediatric intensive care unit. There are general consensus-based guidelines on conceptualizing and operationalizing critical care surge planning, but there is little published on modeling outcomes of disasters affecting large numbers of children.