Pediatric Disaster Preparedness

The National Commission on Children and Disasters' 2010 Report to the President and Congress

Because children make up approximately 25 percent of the nation's population and have unique needs during a disaster, responders need to have the proper pediatric education and training for dealing with the preparedness, response and recovery issues specific to this vulnerable population.

Based on recommendations from the National Commission on Children in Disasters (see News & Events from October 7, 2010), the NCDMPH has begun efforts to establish a competency-based pediatric disaster health curriculum.

The initial step toward achieving this goal was the Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Curriculum Development Conference held in March 2011. The conference yielded important results, including role-specific recommendations for personnel who would be characterized as "Ambulatory Care Clinicians," "Emergency Department Hospital Staff" or "EMS First Responders." Details of the recommendations and proceedings are included in the conference report.

Following the conference, the NCDMPH has convened a Federal panel to provide input on pilot effort pediatric learning modules. An update from the Federal panel, including prioritized topics for development, a general schedule and format plans for the learning module are available in the Toward a Pediatric Disaster Health Curriculum one-pager.


	Home > Knowledge & Learning > Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Because children make up approximately 25 percent of the nation's population and have unique needs during a disaster, responders need to have the proper pediatric education and training for dealing with the preparedness, response and recovery issues specific to this vulnerable population. Based on recommendations from the National Commission on Children in Disasters (see News & Events from October 7, 2010), the NCDMPH has begun efforts to establish a competency-based pediatric disaster health curriculum. The initial step toward achieving this goal was the Pediatric Disaster Preparedness Curriculum Development Conference held in March 2011. The conference yielded important results, including role-specific recommendations for personnel who would be characterized as "Ambulatory Care Clinicians," "Emergency Department Hospital Staff" or "EMS First Responders." Details of the recommendations and proceedings are included in the conference report. Following the conference, the NCDMPH has convened a Federal panel to provide input on pilot effort pediatric learning modules. An update from the Federal panel, including prioritized topics for development, a general schedule and format plans for the learning module are available in the Toward a Pediatric Disaster Health Curriculum one-pager.