Table 1 Interview guide

• Please tell me about your professional experience.

• In what ways is treatment of children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma in Israel distinct?

• What are the challenges of treating such children?

• How should the various care givers collaborate when treating children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma?

• When it comes to treating children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma, what is your opinion on the skills of the emergency department teams in each type of emergency department (general/pediatric)?

• What are the skills and resources required for admission and treatment of children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma? This could include technological resources, training and other elements you can think of.

• Are you aware of any regulatory mechanism that assesses the treatment of children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma? How should lessons be learned?

• According to the literature, only a few emergency departments in the USA are prepared according to leading pediatric organizations’ guidelines. What, in your opinion, is the situation in Israel? What is its direction?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of caring for children in each type of the emergency departments (general/pediatric)?

• In your opinion, which emergency department would be the most appropriate for treating children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma? Why? Does the severity of the casualty have any effect on choosing the emergency department? Do you think that caring for severe pediatric trauma casualties should only be done at specific institutions?

• In Israel there are several models for admission of pediatric trauma casualties. In the USA there are pediatric nurse practitioners who are in charge of admission of pediatric trauma casualties in the emergency department. Based on your experience, which models are you aware of? Would you recommend a specific model?

• How would changing the model of admission and care of children after multiple casualty incidents and trauma affect the position of the medical and nursing teams? How would it change the treatment-associated economic expenditures?

• Do you foresee any other effects?

• In 2008 the Ministry of Health and the Israeli Association for Emergency Medicine recognized pediatric emergency medicine as a medical subspecialty for residency. What is your position on this development in pediatric healthcare? How does it affect the treatment frame/setting?

• Another ongoing change is that pediatric surgery is turning into a specialty of its own. Do you think it has an effect on the location of admission into care and treatment? I would like to mention that there is evidence in the literature that this specialty is no longer associated with pediatric injury. What is your opinion on this issue?

• How do you foresee the effect of establishing pediatric hospitals within general hospitals on caring for injured children?

• From your experience, are there any additional issues that would like to mention in regards to this study?