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The Avianca plane crash : an emergency medical system's response to pediatric survivors of the disaster.

By: Material type: TextTextLanguage: ENG Publication details: 1993Description: 6 pSubject: On January 25, 1990, a jetliner crashed on Long Island, New York. Twenty two children survived the crash. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergency medical system's response to these pediatric survivors. A questionnaire was sent to all local, acute care hospitals to determine their specific pediatric capabilities and to rank them as level I, II, or III pediatric centers; level I centers are tertiary care facilities. A questionnaire was sent to all hospitals that received pediatric survivors to collect specific clinical information for each patient. Based on this clinical information a Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) was assigned to each patient. Children with a PTS less-than-or-equal-to eight are considered to be at increased risk of trauma-related mortality. The assigned PTS was compared to the level of the pediatric center to which each patient was transported. Results, of 25 children on board the plane, 22 (88%) survived the crash; of 135 adults on board, 70 (52%) survived (chi2 = 9.9, P = .002). Seven children had a PTS less-than-or-equal-to 8; only 1 of these high-risk patients was transported directly to a level I pediatric center, and only 2 of the 5 high-risk children initially transported to level III facilities were transferred to higher level pediatric centers. Pediatric survivors were neither adequately triaged nor transported to appropriate facilities which could optimize their care. Possible explanations for this include (1) unique features of the rescue operation, (2) improving the training of prehospital personnel in pediatric emergency care, (3) classifying ill and injured children according to appropriate triage criteria, (4) recognizing existing tertiary care pediatric centers as the optimal location for the treatment of critically ill and injured children, and (5) designationg these centers as the appropriate transport destination for critically ill and injured children
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Bibliography: p. 110

Reprinted from Pediatrics; 1993; Vol. 92; No. 1; p. 105-110

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On January 25, 1990, a jetliner crashed on Long Island, New York. Twenty two children survived the crash. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergency medical system's response to these pediatric survivors. A questionnaire was sent to all local, acute care hospitals to determine their specific pediatric capabilities and to rank them as level I, II, or III pediatric centers; level I centers are tertiary care facilities. A questionnaire was sent to all hospitals that received pediatric survivors to collect specific clinical information for each patient. Based on this clinical information a Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS) was assigned to each patient. Children with a PTS less-than-or-equal-to eight are considered to be at increased risk of trauma-related mortality. The assigned PTS was compared to the level of the pediatric center to which each patient was transported. Results, of 25 children on board the plane, 22 (88%) survived the crash; of 135 adults on board, 70 (52%) survived (chi2 = 9.9, P = .002). Seven children had a PTS less-than-or-equal-to 8; only 1 of these high-risk patients was transported directly to a level I pediatric center, and only 2 of the 5 high-risk children initially transported to level III facilities were transferred to higher level pediatric centers. Pediatric survivors were neither adequately triaged nor transported to appropriate facilities which could optimize their care. Possible explanations for this include (1) unique features of the rescue operation, (2) improving the training of prehospital personnel in pediatric emergency care, (3) classifying ill and injured children according to appropriate triage criteria, (4) recognizing existing tertiary care pediatric centers as the optimal location for the treatment of critically ill and injured children, and (5) designationg these centers as the appropriate transport destination for critically ill and injured children

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