Improving Pediatric Administrative Disaster Preparedness Through Simulated Disaster Huddles

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Disaster Preparedness
• Pediatric Critical Care

Background:

• Emergency department (ED) staff require constant readiness for mass casualty incidents (MCIs).
• Traditional training methods (didactic sessions, drills, exercises) are resource-intensive and time-consuming.
• Alternative, efficient training strategies are needed for effective MCI preparedness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of brief, task-specific drills, termed "disaster huddles."
• To determine if disaster huddles can serve as an alternative or supplement to traditional MCI training in a pediatric ED (PED).
• To assess the impact of disaster huddles on administrative disaster preparedness.

Main Methods:

• Conducted brief, task-specific drills ("disaster huddles") within a pediatric emergency department.
• Focused on improving administrative disaster preparedness.
• Observed trends in preparedness scores over the study period.

Main Results:

• An improving trend in the overall score for administrative disaster preparedness was observed.
• Disaster huddles demonstrated potential as an effective method for enhancing preparedness.
• Low-effort, low-time commitment education appears to be an attractive approach for disaster preparedness.

Conclusions:

• Disaster huddles may be a viable strategy to improve administrative disaster preparedness in pediatric emergency departments.
• This training modality offers a time-efficient alternative or supplement to traditional MCI preparedness programs.
• Further research is warranted to investigate the long-term impact on behavior and patient outcomes.