Global
Almost Half of Injured Haitians Are Children
- Navy Cmdr. Jerry Berman, left, Henri Ford, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta and Lt. Cmdr. Kathryn Berndt perform surgery on a Haitian girl with a severe head injury aboard the USS Vinson.
By Eric Mankin on January 28, 2010 8:04 AM
A statistical study by a specialist group at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and USC indicates that the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake include an extraordinarily high number of children — more than 110,000, nearly half of the estimated total.
This information should guide relief workers on the ground, according to Jeffrey Upperman and Robert Neches, co-developers of the Pediatric Emergency Decision Support System, a software tool to help medical service providers more effectively plan for, train for and respond to serious incidents and disasters affecting children.
The group has set up at blog (http://think-fast-decisions.blogspot.com/) to help guide the choice and distribution of relief supplies. The numbers are, if anything, understated, according to Neches, but the calculations use the latest available reports from relief efforts on the ground.
The pediatric support system uses statistical method to estimate how many of the potential victims of a disaster (so far, earthquakes have been most studied) in a given specific location (i.e., Los Angeles) will be children and what they will need. Children have special needs for equipment, including thinner hypodermic needles, appropriate pharmaceuticals in children’s dosages and medical specialists in pedriatics and other areas.
Such needs in Haiti are particularly intense, because 35 percent of the population is under 15, meaning the estimated total number of injuries (250,000) contains far more children than it would in other areas.
Software tools work with seven age groups, ranging from 0-1 month up to 12- to 18-year-olds. Applied to Haitian demographics, the tools predicted that injuries to persons under 18 make up nearly half of the total, or 111,000.
The same report detailed how many injuries are expected for each of 11 diagnoses, ranging from abdominal trauma to spine injury, in each of the age groups. Thus, for example, the model estimated that about 1,000 children aged 6 to 8 suffered crush injuries.
The software then uses these numbers to predict which medications and supplies each group of vicims would require. Thus, for treatment of the numerous crush injuries projected, the program lists the drugs required and totals the amounts needed. Such estimates can help relief organizations procure the right supplies in the right quantities.
Upperman’s immediate superior at Childrens Hospital is Henri Ford, chief of surgery and vice dean of medical education for the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Ford, of Haitian descent, is in Haiti.
While preparing Ford for what to expect, Upperman asked Neches about the feasibility of using the software system, which the pair began developing in 2006, to focus on the post-earthquake emergency.
Neches mobilized a team at USC’s Information Sciences Institute. Combining information provided by Childrens Hospital Miami and the California Institute of Technology Seismology Center with their own research, the team made the necessary changes and was producing results in days.
Neches is a division director at the Information Sciences Institute specializing in command-and-control computer systems designed to help decision-makers allocate resources in emergency situations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services appropriated $1 million in 2007 to support the effort, which is now working through a Web interface with emergency service providers nationwide. Los Angeles County has supported work on the L.A. area earthquake module, which has become a model for parallel modules for other quake-prone areas.
In addition to Neches and Upperman, Childrens Hospital epidemiologist Rita Burke and Information Sciences Institute researchers Tatyana Ryutov, Craig Milo Rogers and Venkata Pingali worked on the Haitian studies. The software team is actively sharing the current results, methodology and software with colleagues and users.
TAGS: globalization, medicine
Latest Global stories
- USC Team Mends Discord in Mexico January 30, 2012 1:55 PM
- Ostrow School Resident Provides Care in Thailand January 27, 2012 8:17 AM
- Mexico Program Targets Care for Mentally Ill January 23, 2012 10:28 AM
-
For Journalists »
-
USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
-
-
Campus News
- Capital Connections
- USC faculty, staff and alumni in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento
- In Print
- New and recent books written or edited by USC faculty and staff
- Family Matters
- Achievements and awards
- Obituaries