• DOI:10.1542/peds.2013-1691
• Corpus ID: 40104186

Pediatric Care in Disasters

@article{Rothstein2013PediatricCI,
  title={Pediatric Care in Disasters},
  author={David H. Rothstein},
  journal={Pediatrics},
  year={2013},
  volume={132},
  pages={25 - 28}
}

• D. Rothstein
• Published 1 October 2013
• Medicine
• Pediatrics

* Abbreviations:
NGO — : non-governmental organization

> Natural and man-made disasters bring harm to children throughout the world on a regular yet unpredictable basis. Dr Rothstein describes the nature of such disasters and how we can prepare to meet the challenges of providing medical assistance. As pediatricians, we know children have unique vulnerabilities and will have more optimal outcomes when we are attentive to systematic approaches that recognize those needs. In recent years, there has been significant progress in our understanding of how to prepare to intervene on behalf of children. The American Academy of Pediatrics Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council has served to mobilize efforts related to pediatric preparedness planning and response. The Council has recommended that children’s issues be addressed early on in the development of disaster preparedness programs and activities, encouraging community planners to include pediatric experts in all levels of disaster planning and response.
>
> —Jay E. Berkelhamer, MD, FAAP
>
> Section Editor

In an internally displaced persons camp in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of refugee children run around in torn clothes and mismatched flip-flops, their fragmented health care administered by multiple non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Haiti earthquake of 2010 killed more than 220 000 people and displaced more than a million, nearly half of whom were children.1 Houston received hundreds of pediatric patients in the days after Hurricane Katrina, straining medical care providers and facilities alike. In Beijing, air quality is so dismal that pediatric rates of respiratory infections and inflammatory diseases are skyrocketing.2 In Chicago, scores of children are victims of street violence each year.

These natural and man-made disasters are only a few examples from the past decade that have challenged health care professionals and systems alike. They share common themes and have individual nuances, representing typical and perhaps non-typical ideas of what a disaster is and how …

Address correspondence to David H. Rothstein, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E Chicago Ave, Box 63, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: drothstein{at}luriechildrens.org