What Are the Individual Preparations for Children with Special Health Care Needs in the Event of an Emergency

4 Introduction . 5 Statement of Purpose . 6 Literature Review . 7 Table 1 – Declared Disasters by Year . 9 Table 2 – Declared Disasters by State . 10 Table 3 – FEMA for Individuals with Disabilities . 13 The Preparedness of Schools to Respond to Emergencies in Children: A National Survey of School Nurses . 14 Knowledge and Behaviors of Parents in Planning for and Dealing with Emergencies . 16 Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Setting of Child Care . 17 A National Survey of Terrorism Preparedness Training Among Pediatric, Family Practice and Emergency Medicine Programs . 19 Assessing Emergency Preparedness of Families Caring for Young Children with Diabetes and other Chronic Illnesses.21 Table 4 – Disability Characteristics . 23 Methodology . 27 Data Collection . 27 Data Analysis . 27 Results . 29 Individual Preparations 3 Discussion.32 Conclusion . 36 References . 37 Appendix A – FEMA Emergency Plans.40 Appendix B – Red Cross Disaster Supplies Kit List . 41 Appendix C – Emergency Information Form for Children with Special Needs . 46 Appendix D – Emergency Guidelines for the Child with Diabetes . 48 Appendix E – Emergency Guidelines for Child who is Tracheostomy Dependent . 50 Appendix F – Emergency Guidelines for the Child who is Hearing Impaired . 52 Appendix G – Emergency Guidelines for the Child who has Cerebral Palsy or other conditions affecting speech or mobility . 53 Appendix H – Suggested Websites . 54 Appendix I – Public Health Competencies . 55 Acknowledgements . 57 Individual Preparations 4 Abstract Children with special health care needs are one of the most vulnerable groups in the event of an emergency. Natural and manmade disasters or emergency events occur on a daily basis. Government agencies, schools and day care centers have begun developing emergency disaster plans; fewer plans have been developed for children with special needs. One explanation for the lack of specific planning for children is that agencies may believe that plans for adults are not different from plans for children. There may be many reasons why parents who have children with special needs may not have an emergency plan in place. Parents are overwhelmed with the care of their child with special needs and they may have few specific resources to guide them in developing a plan. To identify relevant information on emergency preparedness for parents who have a child with special needs, this researcher conducted a MEDLINE search via PUBMED. The search included the years 1995 to 2008 using the key words children with special needs, disaster planning for children with disabilities, disaster planning, emergency preparedness and parent’s preparation for disasters. Sixty articles and studies were reviewed. Seventeen met the criteria of providing information regarding parent’s preparations and agency’s plans. The results of the research indicate agencies are beginning to develop plans, however, they are lacking for children with special needs. This researcher developed specific guidelines to complement the agency’s plans and to assist parents in creating emergency plans to ensure an improved outcome for their child with special needs. Parents planning through compilation of information, construction of an emergency kit and purchase of a medical alert identification will empower them with the feeling of being prepared for events that may occur and help to reduce the potential catastrophic consequences of an emergency for their child with special health care needs.Children with special health care needs are one of the most vulnerable groups in the event of an emergency. Natural and manmade disasters or emergency events occur on a daily basis. Government agencies, schools and day care centers have begun developing emergency disaster plans; fewer plans have been developed for children with special needs. One explanation for the lack of specific planning for children is that agencies may believe that plans for adults are not different from plans for children. There may be many reasons why parents who have children with special needs may not have an emergency plan in place. Parents are overwhelmed with the care of their child with special needs and they may have few specific resources to guide them in developing a plan. To identify relevant information on emergency preparedness for parents who have a child with special needs, this researcher conducted a MEDLINE search via PUBMED. The search included the years 1995 to 2008 using the key words children with special needs, disaster planning for children with disabilities, disaster planning, emergency preparedness and parent’s preparation for disasters. Sixty articles and studies were reviewed. Seventeen met the criteria of providing information regarding parent’s preparations and agency’s plans. The results of the research indicate agencies are beginning to develop plans, however, they are lacking for children with special needs. This researcher developed specific guidelines to complement the agency’s plans and to assist parents in creating emergency plans to ensure an improved outcome for their child with special needs. Parents planning through compilation of information, construction of an emergency kit and purchase of a medical alert identification will empower them with the feeling of being prepared for events that may occur and help to reduce the potential catastrophic consequences of an emergency for their child with special health care needs. Individual Preparations 5 Introduction The numbers of human designed and natural disasters have increased over the last twenty to thirty years. Regardless of where individuals live, there is a good likelihood that there will be an occurrence that will disrupt the normal daily routines of families. Since the events of September 11, 2001, domestic terrorism has become more of a perceived threat which has made disaster and emergency planning take on a new meaning. Emergency preparedness and training have become more prevalent concerns among federal, state, county, city and public health planning committees. There has been attention directed toward emergency planning in general but there has been a lack of any focused attention on individuals with disabilities; particularly, the pediatric population with special health care needs. One explanation for the lack of information and details about meeting the needs of children when planning for disasters may be that children are frequently not looked at as being different from adults, as a separate concern or at a separate stage of growth (Ginter et al., 2006). The belief during disasters is that the care for children will be the same as for adults. Regardless of the events of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Asia, families are still not equipped for emergencies or disasters (Kubicek et al., 2008). Parents, who attempt to put an emergency plan into place, will likely compile a generic plan for the entire family. If they have a child with a health concern, however, it is imperative that they develop a plan specific to that child’s needs. The questions that the parents need to answer are: 1) if my child is displaced from home, what supplies will be needed to sustain him/her for at least 24 hours, 2) if my child is nonverbal, what can be done to ensure that individuals in a shelter can communica