Emergency Evacuation Related Challenges in Specialized Hospitals for Children and Neonates: A Narrative Review

Background: in recent years, the number of emergencies in hospitals has increased. hospitalsare one of the main assets for successful disaster management. one of the significantchallenges in a disaster is the evacuation of training wards. there are anatomical andphysiological differences between adults and children that make children more vulnerableto accidents and disasters. rapid transfer of sick children on a large scale has always beenchallenging in this respect.objectives: this study pursued the goal to determine the challenges of emergencyevacuation in specialized hospitals for children and neonates.methods: searching online databases, such as google scholar, pubmed, scopus, and webof science was done from december 1 to december 20, 2021. the keywords used forthe search were based on medical subject headings (mesh) and were combined withother keywords, including evacuation, disaster, pediatric, and patient transfer. all englishlanguage studies consistent with the study goal (emergency evacuation challenges inspecialized hospitals for children and neonatal) were included in this study.results: out of 2,145 studies, the full text of 11 studies was finally reviewed. the measurestaken during natural disasters are divided into three levels: local, state, and national. emergencyevacuation challenges are also divided into five categories: communication, training,transportation, equipment and energy, and management.conclusions: this study provided essential perspectives for developing appropriate interventionstrategies for the managers and policymakers of health care systems to better prepare in case ofnatural disasters breaking out in children and neonatal wards.