@article{ref1,
title="A pediatric telemedicine response to a natural disaster",
journal="Telemedicine journal and e-health",
year="2019",
author="Murren-Boezem, Joanne and Solo-Josephson, Patricia and Zettler-Greeley, Cynthia M.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="<b>                         <i>Background:</i>                     </b>                     <i>Hurricane Irma, a catastrophic Category 4 storm, made landfall in Florida on September 10, 2017. Nemours CareConnect (NCC) offered direct-to-consumer (DTC) pediatric telemedicine during Hurricane Irma.</i>                     <b>                         <i>Introduction:</i>                     </b>                     <i>Although other programs have examined disaster response and postdisaster recovery by using telemedicine, no studies report use of a pediatric-specific, DTC platform during all three phases of disaster management.</i>                     <b>                         <i>Materials and Methods:</i>                     </b>                     <i>This IRB-approved study is a retrospective analysis of NCC's audio-visual telemedicine encounters performed on September 8-16, 2017.</i>                     <b>                         <i>Results:</i>                     </b>                     <i>From September 8 to 16, 2017, NCC recorded 262 completed telemedicine visits. The mean wait time was 12.23 ± 14.4 min. The mean length of the telemedicine encounter was 10.12 ± 4.42 min. Most telemedicine visits occurred on the day before the storm (27.9%), followed by the day after the storm (19.5%). Most common chief complaints were upper respiratory symptoms (33.6%), skin-related concerns (19.1%), fever (16.8%), and gastrointestinal concerns (6.5%). Patient satisfaction remained high during the storm, for the provider as well as the platform.</i>                     <b>                         <i>Discussion:</i>                     </b>                     <i>During Hurricane Irma, NCC offered accessible and efficient care to families who were impacted by the storm throughout Florida. <br><br>RESULTS suggest a differential pattern of use before the storm's arrival, during, and immediately after the storm, which may be informative to other telemedicine providers.</i>                     <b>                         <i>Conclusion:</i>                     </b>                     <i>Further research is needed on the integration of telemedicine into the disaster preparedness plans at a local, state, and national level to ensure maximum support for those families in need.</i>                 <p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1530-5627",
doi="10.1089/tmj.2019.0100",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2019.0100"
}