Pediatric Disaster Preparedness: What Do We Do Next?

Abstract

To the Editor .— On the basis of current events, it was quite exciting to review the American Academy of Pediatrics technical report entitled “The Pediatrician and Disaster Preparedness” in the February 2006 issue of Pediatrics .1 In the report, Drs Markenson and Reynolds, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Task Force on Terrorism, succinctly reviewed “issues for the pediatrician with respect to disaster, terrorism, and public health emergency preparedness.”1 However, it was “not intended to be a complete compendium of didactic content but rather offers an approach to what pediatricians need to know and how pediatricians must lend their expertise to enhance preparedness in every community.”1 The authors call for the pediatrician's involvement with hospital preparedness as well as community, government, and public health initiatives. It was particularly interesting that the authors gave guidelines on how to deal with various disasters and how the pediatrician should become actively involved. However, as with all guidelines, pediatricians often ask themselves, “How do I apply these guidelines? How do I contribute? How do I go about being an advocate …