WASHINGTON (AP) - Children's medical groups are calling on the government to provide more training for pediatricians and ensure there are age-appropriate treatments in case children are victims of bioterrorism.

"In the rush of trying to get the big picture done, nobody has raised a hand and said, "What about the kids?"' said Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and head of New York's Children's Hospital at Montefiore who is lobbying Congress for help.

In response, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., introduced legislation Thursday that would provide $20 million for research on children's medications.

It also seeks $50 million to train child health care workers to recognize and treat symptoms of a bioterror attack. An additional $50 million would ensure that the nation's treatment stockpile includes antidotes tailored to child victims of a chemical or biological attack.

As with many other ailments, children exposed to such agents could become sick sooner and decline more quickly than adults, pediatricians say. For instance, children suffering such symptoms as vomiting and diarrhea would become dehydrated and go into shock more quickly than adults, Redlener said.

Pediatric experts also worry over just how many antidotes and antibiotics are formulated especially for children, and how well children's doctors - like many other general practitioners - are trained to detect and treat a biological or chemical agent.

In response to the current anthrax cases in Florida, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued doctors a list of the age-appropriate antibiotic dosages, including doses for children.

But Redlener said he is not sure thousands of pediatricians nationwide got the message, or know anything about how to treat any other bioterror agent that might appear one day.

Clinton's legislation would create a national task force of pediatric experts to advise federal authorities and develop special plans for evacuating schools.

Pediatricians also want to become involved in the government's planning on how to prevent or fight bioterrorism.

"Whether disasters or natural or manmade, we need to part of the planning so that children's special needs are not overlooked," said Dr. Louis Z. Cooper, a Columbia University pediatrics professor who is president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "We also know we can't work in isolation."

He said more than 55,000 children's hospitals and doctors could share information on a common database that would alert federal authorities to early symptoms of anthrax, smallpox or other bioterror agents, he said.

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