Preparing families of technology-dependent children for emergencies

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the baseline level of emergency preparedness among families of technology-dependent children admitted to our PICU and to determine if an ICU-based planning intervention can sustainably improve families’ disaster preparedness. METHODS: A single-arm, survey-based study used to assess participants’ preparedness to handle a 72-hour home power outage on the basis of a novel 8-point checklist. Parents of patients in the study completed the survey questions when their child was admitted to the PICU, discharged, or transferred from the PICU, after at least 2 weeks at home, and after at least 6 months at home. This study included a cohort of 50 children younger than18 years old who required daily use of at least 1 piece of qualifying electronic medical equipment at home and their custodial parents. The checklist surveyed was designed with the goals of maximizing care capacity at home during a power outage and planning for evacuation. Counseling and other resources were provided on the basis of item completion at admission assessment. RESULTS: Patients’ families completed a median of 3 items (range: 0–8; N 5 50) at admission, 4 items (range: 1–8; n 5 45) at discharge, and 7 items (range: 3–8; n 5 37) at the 2-week follow-up and retained 7 items (range: 5–8; n 5 29) at the 6-month follow-up. Completion rates were significantly higher at each follow-up time point compared with baseline (P, .001). CONCLUSIONS: Families of technology-dependent children admitted to our PICU have significant disaster-preparedness needs, which can be addressed with an inpatient intervention.