Hurricane Awareness and Disaster Preparedness Contacts
This year's Hurricane Season runs from June 1st to November 30th, and experts are predicting a busier-than-usual season. The AAP Children and Disasters Web site includes various resources that you might find helpful, including:
- Disaster Preparedness for Pediatric Practices, an online tool to help practices develop a written plan
- Standards for Disaster Shelter Care for Children
- Supplies for Infants/Toddlers in Mass Care Shelters
- Ideas for Chapter Initiatives (setting up a key contact network to use in an emergency, etc.)
For more information, see: http://www.aap.org/disasters/hurricanes-storms.cfm
Separately, more than half of all AAP Chapters have identified an AAP member volunteer who can serve as a Disaster Preparedness point-of-contact. Information on these contacts and relevant state initiatives was compiled here: http://www.aap.org/disasters/state-initiatives.cfm
Please check the information that relates to your state Chapter - much has happened since this information was initially posted (including the H1N1 pandemic influenza), and we would like you to provide us with any updated information. Stacia Simon, an AAP employee who will be helping us out for the summer, has reviewed the most recent Chapter annual reports. She and I will be getting in touch with you separately to update the information on our Web site.
Also, please review the AAP Children and Disasters Web site at http://www.aap.org/disasters/index.cfm
If you have suggested changes or additions, I would be happy to post them.
Thank you for your consideration!
Laura Aird, MS, Manager, Disaster Preparedness
American Academy of Pediatrics
