TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Simulating a vertical evacuation of a NICU and PICU to examine the relationship between training and preparedness
JO  - Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
A1  - Gist, Ramon E.
A1  - Daniel, Pia
A1  - Tejani, Nizar
A1  - Grock, Andrew
A1  - Aluisio, Adam
A1  - Kohlhoff, Stephan
A1  - Roblin, Patricia
A1  - Arquilla, Bonnie
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to implement pediatric vertical evacuation disaster training and evaluate its effectiveness by using a full-scale exercise to compare outcomes in trained and untrained participants. <br><br>METHODS: Various clinical and nonclinical staff in a tertiary care university hospital received pediatric vertical evacuation training sessions over a 6-wk period. The training consisted of disaster and evacuation didactics, hands-on training in use of evacuation equipment, and implementation of an evacuation toolkit. An unannounced full-scale simulated vertical evacuation of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Drill participants completed a validated evaluation tool. Pearson chi-squared testing was used to analyze the data. <br><br>RESULTS: Eighty-four evaluations were received from drill participants. Forty-three (51%) of the drill participants received training and 41 (49%) did not. Staff who received pediatric evacuation training were more likely to feel prepared compared with staff who did not (odds ratio, 4.05; confidence interval: 1.05-15.62). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: There was a statistically significant increase in perceived preparedness among those who received training. Recently trained pediatric practitioners were able to achieve exercise objectives on par with the regularly trained emergency department staff. Pediatric disaster preparedness training may mitigate the risks associated with caring for children during disasters.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1935-7893
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.201
ID  - ref1
ER  -