• Matthew Desmond, Deborah Schwengel, Kelly Chilson, Deborah Rusy, Kristyn Ingram, Aditee Ambardekar, Robert S Greenberg, Kumar Belani, Alison Perate, Meera Gangadharan, and Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Disaster Preparedness Special Interest Group.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Wollongong Hospital, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: mdesmond@ucla.edu.
• Br J Anaesth. 2022 Feb 1; 128 (2): e109-e119.

AbstractThe paediatric population is disproportionately affected during mass casualty incidents (MCIs). Several unique characteristics of children merit special attention during natural and man-made disasters because of their age, physiology, and vulnerability. Paediatric anaesthesiologists play a critical part of MCI care for this population, yet there is a deficit of publications within the anaesthesia literature addressing paediatric-specific MCI concerns. This narrative review article analyses paediatric MCI considerations and compares differing aspects between care provision in Australia, the UK, and the USA. We integrate some of the potential roles for anaesthesiologists with paediatric experience, which include preparation, command consultation, in-field care, pre-hospital transport duties, and emergency department, operating theatre, and ICU opportunities. Finally, we propose several methods by which anaesthesiologists can improve their contribution to paediatric MCI care through personal education, training, and institutional involvement.Copyright © 2021 British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved.

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