International Children's Center for Disaster Medicine: A Proposal

Abstract

The International Children's Center for Disaster Medicine is conceived as a non-governmental, non-profit institution. Its goal is to provide medical help to children during environmental and military disasters and their resulting circumstances, vnthout regard for their nationality, religion, or the political views of their parents.

The idea for an international children's center for disaster medicine grew out of the experiences of pediatricians active in disaster medicine, who were able to see at first-hand, the potential for assistance in such situations, but who also saw either overlapping services provided by well-intentioned organizations, or severe deficiencies in services because of a lack of communication and coordination between these organizations. Among the goals of this international children's center will be to provide volunteer medical help to children by the best specialists in pediatric care, including surgeons, pediatricians, traumatologists, orthopedists, neurosurgeons, intensive care and critical care specialists, experts in rehabilitation, and psychologists. A special training program will create a system of regional and inter-regional specialists, who can offer qualified help to children in catastrophic situations. This educational program will stress the preparation of local medical assets and simultaneously provide international support. The center will conduct scientific research devoted to the specific problems of assistance to children during catastrophic circumstances. A special surgical hospital will be built to care for children after catastrophes. Branches of this international center will be created to serve large regions of the world, allowing a reduction in mortality and morbidity of children, and leading to an improvement in the results of medical care.