A Novel Image-Based Tool to Reunite Children With Their Families After Disasters

• 2012

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• Sarita Chung; C. Mario Christoudias; Trevor Darrell; Sonja Ziniel; Leslie Kalish
PMID: 23167852DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.12013

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This article discusses a new tool that uses photos to help reunite children with their families after disasters. The tool uses facial features like eye and skin color to match children with their parents' descriptions. In tests, it showed that the tool could reduce the number of images parents need to look through compared to random searches. Most parents found it helpful and easy to use in a disaster situation. However, more testing is needed before using it in real-life situations. The study highlights the importance of having such tools for reuniting families during emergencies.

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Tags

Focus Areas: Everyday Emergency; Natural Disasters

Audiences: Emergency Managers; Public Health Professionals

Emergency Management Stages: Mitigation; Response

Collection: Disaster Research Literature Review

Keywords: Algorithms; Confidence Intervals; Disasters; Double-Blind Method; Family; Feedback; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Patient Identification Systems; Photography; Pilot Projects; Cross-Over Studies; Emergency Responders

Institutions: Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; University of California, Berkeley

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