Develop Pediatric Emergency Decision Support System (PEDSS) software
Imagine a sophisticated yet user-friendly software package that any hospital administrator or trauma center director could insert, on disc, into their computer. Its purpose? To walk the user, step by step, through best practices pediatric disaster planning. Imagine too that—by prompting users to input specific data on their community demographics, geography, neighboring industry, on-site staff, facility size and available supplies—the software could tailor a plan to fit each user institution’s unique preparedness resources and vulnerabilities. Essentially, the software would:

• collate the data
• produce a list of disaster scenarios most-likely to impact the user
• outline the training, supplies and auxiliary services that must be put in place in order to develop a viable pediatric preparedness plan.

Finally, the software would allow for regularly updating the plan based on new County disaster policies and regulations as well as institutional growth and change.

Imagine all that and name it the “Pediatric Emergency Decision Support System” (PEDSS). This is the remarkable new software that the Project Informatics core has been established to create, distribute and test.

Create a companion user manual for participating network members.
Built based on thorough research into best practices in pediatric disaster care nationwide, PEDSS will be available only to member agencies and first response providers who join the Disaster Preparedness Project network. Along with the basic software package, each participating institution will receive a companion user manual, written for the lay reader and intended to give basic how-to information on using the program. The manual will also provide answers to most frequently asked questions, so individual members can troubleshoot many minor problems without outside help. Of course, core team experts can be contacted, online, for consultation and support.

Design PEDSS server support architecture
The Project Informatics core team understands that many network participants will lack on-site staff of server support experts who could make PEDSS fully operational. So the team (made up of pediatric disaster care specialists and software engineers) will design support architecture than can be easily integrated into any server platform.

Integrate into PEDSS an initial reunification module
Any major countywide disaster would cause serious medical injuries. It would also result in untold numbers of “dislocated” children—youngsters who have become separated from their parents and other responsible adults. First responders must prepare to address the immediate psycho-social needs of these children and put in place a system for family reunification. The Project Informatics core can work with the Disaster Resource Center to ensure that a basic reunification module is integrated in the PEDSS program. In effect, it would allow hospitals and other member sites to input relevant data about incoming pediatric patients and submit that information to larger, secure online reunification platforms.

Launch PEDSS for collaborating research centers and network members
Once the program design is finalized and tested internally, the Project Informatics core can launch PEDSS among information technology experts around the county who have agreed to collaborate on a broader test run. Perhaps even more helpfully, the software will undergo a crucial usability check as member sites and other network participants begin working with it to design their actual pediatric disaster preparedness plan. Although there is every expectation that the software will function well, the Project Informatics team can work closely and frequently with its research partners and end-users for an initial testing period.

Conduct survey-based evaluation studies
At the end of 2008, the Project Informatics core asked end users and research collaborators to provide feedback on PEDSS’s strengths and weaknesses. A secure online survey would make data easy to transmit, collate and analyze. The evaluation process can substantiate the value of the software and pinpoint specific areas that may need to be improved, expanded or eliminated. Based on these results, the Informatics team can revise the software and offer member sites the chance to work with a second generation of the program.