Steve Berman, MD, FAAP

Supplies that sat unused in the weeks after the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January demonstrated that the need to be prepared for the worst is as important as the humanitarian relief that inevitably follows a natural disaster.

In the past decade, the Academy has established programs to support those in need after disasters, and four sessions that will be presented at the NCE aim to improve that planning and educate more people to the Academy's efforts.

"It took five years to develop this curriculum, and over the last three years we have set up training centers," said Steve Berman, MD, FAAP, a past-president of the AAP who has been a leader in the establishment of the disaster programs and who will be a presenter at two of the sessions.

Two of the presentations will review the Academy's international efforts while two will focus on programs in the U.S.

The first session, "Global Efforts in Addressing Child Health Needs in Disasters" (C0008), presented October 1, is designed to spread the word of the Academy's efforts among U.S. pediatricians and increase support.

"Global Efforts" will focus on the unique physical and psychological needs of children during disasters, discuss the AAP efforts to assist pediatric societies around the world and present local disaster preparedness efforts by pediatrician leaders from Latin America and Asia.

"We will describe the program's aims and structure, and then review where we have set up training centers in other countries. Several course directors from various countries in Latin America and Asia are going to describe their experiences with the course, and will also talk about future directions," Dr. Berman said, adding that training centers have been established in China, Vietnam, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Ecuador.

The second presentation, "International Pediatric Education in Disasters," (S1038) will take place October 2. Presenters will be Dr. Berman and David Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, who will discuss strategies to engage pediatricians in international preparedness, response and recovery efforts.

"This course is more relevant to the general pediatrician," Dr. Berman said. "It will provide them with more of the tools that would be appropriate for volunteering. The first course is more of an overview of what we have done with the course."

The session will review the lessons learned from the H1N1 pandemic and Haiti earthquake response. Highlighted will be strategies for working with pediatric societies in different areas of the world, disaster preparedness models and educational initiatives being implemented around the world.

A third presentation, "The Pediatrician's Role in Disaster Preparedness, Recovery and Community Resiliency" (S2089), on October 3, will explain how pediatricians can serve as sentinels during a bioterrorism or infectious disease outbreak. Topics addressed will include how to rapidly identify and diagnose symptoms of exposure and how to be alert to clusters of uncommon clinical presentations.

Strategies to improve community preparedness and recovery will be highlighted, including how participants can: support the development of disaster plans for families, child-care programs and schools; promote adjustment and coping after a disaster; encourage preparedness planning in office practices and hospitals; and participate in community disaster exercises and drills.

The fourth presentation, "National Commission on Children and Disasters Update" (S3119), on October 4, will discuss the work of the National Commission on Children and Disasters (NCCD).

The NCCD is developing recommendations for the president and Congress on the special needs of children during and after a disaster, including topics such as acute medical care, evacuation, sheltering, reunification and mental health. The presenters, Michael Anderson, MD, FAAP, and Irwin Redlener, MD, FAAP, who are NCCD members, will discuss the work of the commission, its key findings and recommendations in the committee's 2010 report.