New Maintenance of Certification Part 4 Initiative – Pediatric Disaster Preparedness

The US Emergency Care System is “poorly prepared for disasters”. A 2013 report titled Preparedness, Response and Recovery: Considerations for Children and Family Summary, acknowledged that “current state and local disaster plans often do not include specific considerations for children and families. While disaster plans are required in all hospitals, at last two drills (including children) should be conducted each year to improve efficiency and skills. Deficiencies in day-to-day operational readiness are exacerbated during a disaster, and specifically children are disproportionately effected in disasters. Children tend to come as an afterthought rather than a priority in planning for a disaster. They are categorized as an “at risk,” “special needs,” or “vulnerable” population, yet only few hospitals have integrated these patients’ care needs into their disaster plans.

Participants will assess their level of preparedness at the onset of their improvement work and progress through seven disaster domains to increase their preparedness scores. Community practices will evaluate their progress with monthly reports and will have an opportunity to collaborate with other participating community practices to share best practices and shore up momentum over the course of the project.

We are providing a framework of templates and resources that make these interventions achievable in

a reasonable timeframe of 6 months. Via adaption of pre-made checklists and templates we have limited the time required to develop the necessary policies and plans. In addition, we are providing premade tabletop exercises to assess preparedness. To bridge the knowledge gap, we are providing the highest level of best-practices and resources available to allow participants to gain the knowledge needed for ultimate pediatric disaster preparedness. If you would like to learn more, are interested in participating, or know of anyone who would be interested in participating, scan the QR code to the right or click here.