Citation

Blake N, Fry-Bowers EK. J. Pediatr. Health Care 2018; 32(2): 207-210.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.pedhc.2017.12.003

PMID

29455852

Abstract

Children in communities throughout the United States have been increasingly affected by natural disasters and disasters of human origin. During a 3-month period in 2017, the pediatric population was affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana; Hurricane Irma in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina; and the devastation of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Uncontrolled wildfires in both Northern and Southern California devastated families and communities. Mass casualty shootings at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, coincided with or quickly followed these disasters. With each event, hospitals and emergency services were significantly affected while meeting the needs of the pediatric population. Children under 18 years of age make up about 25% of the U.S. population, and the physiologic, developmental, mental health, and behavioral needs of children and adolescents require particular attention in disaster and emergency preparedness planning (Dziuban, Peacock, & Frogel, 2017). In 2010, the National Commission on Children and Disasters issued a report to the President and Congress making more than 80 specific recommendations, including the adoption of a national strategy on children and disasters (National Commission on Children and Disasters, 2010). In 2011, after Hurricane Katrina and the ...

Language: en

Keywords

Disaster preparedness; all hazards preparedness; emergency preparedness