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When Disaster Strikes: Responding to the Needs of Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Robin H. Gurwitch ,
Michelle Kees ,
Steven M. Becker ,
Merritt Schreiber ,
Betty Pfefferbaum  and
Dickson Diamond
Robin H. Gurwitch*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for Terrorism and Disaster Branch, and National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Michelle Kees
Affiliation:
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Steven M. Becker
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, and Center for Emergency Care and Disaster Preparedness, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama USA
Merritt Schreiber
Affiliation:
Neuropsychiatric Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of California-Los Angeles, Terrorism and Disaster Branch, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Los Angeles, California USA
Betty Pfefferbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Terrorism and Disaster Branch, and National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Dickson Diamond
Affiliation:
Bioterrorism Preparedness Program, Los Angeles Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, California USA
*
Department of Pediatrics University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 1100 NE 13th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73117 USA E-mail: robin-gurwitch@ouhsc.edu
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Abstract

When a disaster strikes, parents are quick to seek out the medical advice and reassurance of their primary care physician, pediatrician, or in the case of an emergency, an emergency department physician. As physicians often are the first line of responders following a disaster, it is important that they have a thorough understanding of children's responses to trauma and disaster and of recommended practices for screening and intervention. In collaboration with mental health professionals, the needs of children and families can be addressed. Policy-makers and systems of care hold great responsibility for resource allocation, and also are well-placed to understand the impact of trauma and disaster on children and children's unique needs in such situations.

Keywords

bioterrorismchildrendisasterinterventionsmental healthpolicypost-traumatic stress reactionsterrorism
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 19 , Special Issue 1: Psychosocial Themes , March 2004 , pp. 21 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2004

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