Sichuan earthquake and emergency relief care for children: report from the firstly arrived pediatricians in the epicenter zone.

Objective: An 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province of China on May 12, 2008. Over the next 10 days, the firstly arrived uniformed pediatricians in the epicenter zone took part in emergency relief care for children. The investigations of major injuries and diseases in children were taken.

Methods: Demographic data collected included (if possible) age, date of presentation, injury, disease, and surgery performed.

Results: Total casualties were estimated to be more than 80,000, and much more were injured. Eight hundred eighty-two inpatients were treated by the relief team during the first 10 days. Of 882 inpatients, 192 (21.8%) were younger than 18 years. Children's ages were not evenly distributed. Twenty-seven patients were neonates, infants, and toddlers (14%), 105 were school-aged (55%), and were 60 adolescents (31%). The admitted children had 256 injuries. Limb (106 cases, 55.2%) and body surface (67 cases, 34.9%) were the majorly injured locations. One hundred twenty-seven cases (66.2%) had simple open injuries, and 106 (55.2% had fractures. The children's conditions were evaluated as mild (121 cases, 63.0%), moderate (56 cases, 29.7%), severe (8 cases, 4.2%), and fatal (7 cases, 3.7%).

Conclusions: More than 20% of patients requiring hospitalization were children. School-aged children were heavily injured. The increase in infectious diseases followed on. The data show that there is an immediate need for orthopedic and general surgery skills, and pediatricians should play an important role in early rescue and subsequent control of infectious diseases in a huge earthquake hazard.