Planning for Care During Pandemics and Disasters

Michael D. Christian, MD, FCCP, Niranjan Kissoon, MBBS, and editorialist Christian E. Sandrock, MD, MPH, FCCP, join CHEST Podcast Editor D. Kyle Hogarth, MD, FCCP, to talk about what is new in the just released collection of CHEST Consensus Statement articles on "Care of the Critically Ill and Injured During Pandemics and Disasters." This is the first comprehensive update to these statements since 2008 and provides suggestions for physicians, administrators, and others on the gamut of challenges that must be prepared for when events strain medical resources.  Among the new and updated topics they discuss are pediatric patients, resource poor environments, special patient populations, and planning and implementation issues across regions and country boundaries. The special problems of collecting evidence-based data in these events are also discussed.