Pediatric Preparedness for Disasters, Terrorism and Public Health Emergencies: A National Consensus Conference: Executive Summary and Final Report

In 2003, we convened experts from the multiple areas of expertise and disciplines involved in the planning for and care of children during times of disaster and terrorist events. The goals of this unprecedented meeting were to: 1) Build collaboration among individuals with expertise in emergency management, including disaster medicine, disaster planning, pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric critical care, pediatric surgery, and emergency management, management, and response; 2) Review and summarize the existing data on the needs of children in disasters, including planning, preparation, and response; 3) Develop consensus on the needs of persons with disabilities in disasters; 4) Create a research agenda to address knowledge gaps based on the limited data that exist on the needs of children in disasters. The 2003 conference led to the pediatric consensus document that established the first national guidelines and recommendations for pediatric preparedness. These guidelines then served to advance pediatric preparedness by allowing all those involved in emergency preparedness, including emergency management, public health, law enforcement, fire service, EMS, and hospital systems, to begin preparing to deal with children in disaster situations. These guidelines also served as the basis for discussion by the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism.