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Children need assistance in preparing for evacuation and guidance in moving to a safer place because by themselves they cannot respond to a disaster safely. Nurses must provide instructions about how to evacuate according to the children�fs conditions, development stages, equipment they put on and infectious conditions. You may instruct attending parents to assist their children.
Nurses should set an example by acting calmly in an emergency situation. You should think what role you should play as a nurse and where you will be needed. You may be required to confirm evacuation routes, help children prepare for evacuation, guide them as they evacuate, and then stand by at an evacuation site to take care of arriving children.
* One thing that a child loves very much
Let children take one thing with them that they love most, in a size that they can carry by themselves. This will make them feel safe.
Children who need immediate help (Which patient? Which room? What condition.
Some children may face a life-threatening situation due to power outage or any other condition that stops life-sustaining equipment when a disaster occurs. You need to be informed about which rooms such children are in, regardless of whether you are in charge or not. How to evacuate them may differ according to their conditions. You always need to have information about the current condition of those needing immediate help in an emergency. Medical supplies needed for medical procedures may also differ, for example in size, according to the children. You should therefore confirm on a daily basis which supplies should be taken out for evacuation. You may need some measures to make them readily available when needed.
Children who need to be transferred
Some children may not be able to walk on their own. Special arrangements may be needed to transfer children with certain kinds of medical equipment. It would be helpful to establish, in advance, concrete measures for transferring patients that take into consideration how many nurses and what special arrangements will be needed (for children with many equipment). Such measures will allow quick patient transfers in an emergency.
Children who need nurses' assistance to reach a shelter:
Infants
Children who cannot walk on their own
Children constantly in need of medical equipment or other devices
Children prone to an opportunistic infection
Children with an infection
Children who can reach a shelter on their own if instructions are provided:
Children in a mildly sick condition
Children who can walk on their own
Children who have parents�f assistance
Children old enough to go to school or older
Children who can move and walk by removing devices such as drip injectors
Evacuation methods with infection prevention taken into consideration
It is critically important to take into account preventive measures against infection in the care of pediatric patients. You must be well informed of which category each child is in: opportunistic infection, infection, or non-infection. In an emergency, you should make every possible effort not to mix patients in different infection categories and to take measures to minimize infection risk. Such measures may include having every patient wear a mask during evacuation and guiding them to a shelter in a way that doesn�ft mix them. You may need special arrangements at the shelter so that infections don�ft spread.
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Evacuation of children
