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The Imbalance in Medical Demand and Supply for Pediatric Victims in an Earthquake

Chiaki Toida1,2, Ichiro Takeuchi1, Takeru Abe1

  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
|December 22, 2018
PubMed

Insights

A study quantified the significant imbalance between medical risks and support needs for children after a large earthquake in Kanagawa. This highlights the urgent need for disaster preparedness strategies for pediatric populations.

Area of Science:

  • Disaster medicine
  • Pediatric emergency care
  • Public health preparedness

Background:

  • Large-scale earthquakes pose significant challenges to healthcare systems, particularly for vulnerable populations like children.
  • Assessing the disparity between medical needs and available resources is crucial for effective disaster response.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the imbalance of medical risks and support needs for children in Kanagawa following a major earthquake.
  • To evaluate the adequacy of disaster-based hospital resources for pediatric casualties using specific metrics.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the risk resource ratio (RRR) and need for medical resources (NMR) to assess pediatric medical risks and support needs.
  • Estimated RRR and NMR for 33 disaster-based hospitals by comparing estimated pediatric victims with available critical care capacity.

Main Results:

  • An estimated 8,391 pediatric victims and 352 vacant beds were identified in Kanagawa.
  • Median RRR and NMR for total pediatric victims were 27 and 224, respectively.
  • Median RRR and NMR for critically ill pediatric patients were 27 and 12, indicating a resource deficit.

Conclusions:

  • The study quantified an absolute imbalance in medical risks and support needs for children in Kanagawa post-earthquake.
  • Findings underscore the necessity for proactive disaster preparedness strategies specifically targeting pediatric populations.
Abstract

Keywords:
disaster base hospitalearthquake disasterpediatric victim

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