American journal of disaster medicine
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Although children and infants are likely to be victims in a disaster and are more vulnerable in a disaster than adults, disaster planning and management has often overlooked the specific needs of pediatric patients. We discuss key components of disaster planning and management for pediatric patients including emergency medical services, hospital/facility issues, evacuation centers, family separation/reunification, children with special healthcare needs, mental health issues, and overcrowding/surge capacity. ⋯ The second part addresses the appropriate set up and functioning of evacuation centers and family separation and reunification. The third part deals with special patient populations: the special healthcare needs patient and mental health issues.
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To examine patterns of visits by residents of northern Israel displaced during the Israel-Lebanon War of 2006 to an urgent care system in central Israel and to compare these patterns with those of local patients. ⋯ Patterns of common discharge diagnoses were generally similar between northern and local residents, with the exception of fewer injury-related visits and more anxiety-related visits. Urgent care appears to have served an important function for displaced individuals during this war, mostly for routine medical needs.