Childrens Hospital's Dr. Jeffrey S. Upperman, who has long
collaborated with ISI's Robert Neches on designs for next-
generation pediatric emergency response systems, has just
received a $5 million grant from the Department of Health
and Human Services to develop such a system.
The $5 million grant awarded to Childrens Hospital Los
Angeles will be used for pediatric disaster preparedness
plans and strategies for including children and pediatric-
related issues in drills and training activities, regional
strategy, and planning for evacuation and reunification,
according to Upperman, M.D., FACS, FAAP, project director
and director of the Trauma Program at Childrens Hospital
Los Angeles, and associate professor of pediatric surgery at
the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California.
"We will focus on developing pediatric disaster
preparedness strategies including evacuation and
reunification plans, telecommunication education strategies
and planning, including telemedicine robots, pediatric
disaster drill training and assessment in Los Angeles County,
as well as hospital disaster plan preparation and a multi-
center disaster response training exercise planning tools,"
Dr. Upperman said.
Dr. Upperman has been collaborating for years on use
of advanced software systems for pediatric emergency
response strategy, training and execution with Robert
Neches, Ph.D., (left) division director of the University of
Southern
California Information Sciences Institute, part of the USC
Viterbi School of Engineering. Drs. Upperman and Neches
anticipate that continued, intensified Children/ISI
collaboration on what they call an "adaptive planning
paradigm" will be one result of the new grant.
The pair began collaborating last year on the paradigm,
using internal USC funding, working on the belief that in the
confusion following a large earthquake or other major
disaster, the lives of children will depend on ways to get the
latest, best information about resources and needs into the
hands of decision makers, quickly, accurately, and flexibly,
in a form that enables them to make the right moves.
"Adaptive planning breaks down the barriers between
preparation and execution; it eliminates the dual problems of
creating plans that are not followed and following plans that
don't fit," explains Neches. "The key is the ability to speedily
gather and assess information from a huge variety of
sources, including real time sensors, and to package and
disseminate results so plans can be executed - or
changed."
In addition to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the other
HHS grant recipients include Health and Hospital Corporation
of Marion County, Indianapolis; Rhode Island Hospital,
Providence; the University of California, Davis; and
Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is designated as a Level I
Pediatric Trauma Center by the Los Angeles County EMS
Agency, and it is one of only a dozen Level I Pediatric
Trauma Centers in America accredited by the American
College of Surgeons.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been
treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los
Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged
throughout the United States and around the world for its
leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens
Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals,
affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University
of Southern California since 1932. It is a national leader in
pediatric research.
Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of
board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital
Los Angeles (below) one of the top pediatric facilities in the
nation.
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