Ready. Prep. Go!

Irene Navis, AICP, former Assistant Emergency Manager for Clark County, discusses the tragic events of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, which resulted in 58 deaths and over 750 injuries. She shares her firsthand experience of responding to the crisis and the long-term impacts on both victims and first responders. The conversation highlights the community's resilience, the importance of mental health support for responders, and the collaborative efforts to aid those affected by such tragedies, emphasizing the vital role of shared stories in promoting healing and understanding.

Irene Navis, AICP, is Managing Partner of Navis Strategic Services. Navis comes from a 30-year career in local government. She serves as the Nevada Coordinator for the Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Management (WRAP-EM), and is the CBRN Domain Manager for the Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN). Navis is widely published in several professional journals and conference papers, and has presented at a number of state, national, and international conferences.

For more resources about firearms, violence, mass casualty incidents, and mental health, check out PPN Resource Central, an expertly curated database of thousands of resources related to giving care to children — every day and in crises.

References

• Clark County Resiliency and Recovery Framework – October 2017
• What Happened In Vegas – Rolling Stone
• Firearm Violence Prevention – AAP
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline – SAMHSA
• 1 October After-Action Report [Las Vegas Shooting] – Homeland Security Digital Library

Dawn Bailey, a family engagement specialist and advocate for children with complex medical needs, discusses the challenges of disaster preparedness for families like hers. Dawn shares her personal journey caring for her daughter who has significant medical requirements, emphasizing the inadequacy of standard disaster preparedness checklists for families with unique needs. Dawn highlights the need for policy changes and encourages families to continually voice their challenges to improve support systems.

Dawn is a mom of a daughter born with complex medical, cognitive, and physical conditions due to a rare genetic chromosomal abnormality, who had to navigate complicated and fragmented systems of care for over 19 years. As a result, Dawn has been committed to helping to improve the landscape of health systems and how they serve families and the community by sharing her lived expertise to improve care, programs, processes, data analysis, funding, and reimbursement models.

Resources

• Disaster and Families of Children with Disabilities: What Every Health Care Provider Needs to Know
• File of Life
• Disaster Preparedness for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs – American Academy of Pediatrics
• Policy statement–emergency information forms and emergency preparedness for children with special health care needs — Pubmed
• Disaster Safety for People with Disabilities – American Red Cross
• Emergency Kit Checklist for Families with Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs (CYSHCN) — CDC
• People with Disabilities — Ready.gov

Dr. Natasha Gill, MD, MPH, FAAP discusses disaster preparedness for families. Dr. Gill, a pediatric emergency physician, shares her experiences with various disasters and emphasizes the importance of preparing a disaster kit. Key tips include knowing local risks, creating a go-bag with essentials (water, food, first aid, and cash), and involving children in preparedness plans. For families with special needs, she advises keeping essential medications and documents, and using accessible strategies to build and maintain disaster supplies over time.

Natasha Gill, MD, MPH, FAAP, is Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) faculty and the Emergency Department (ED) Co-Director of Disaster Management at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (“Traditional Research Track”) for the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

• Disaster Preparedness for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs - American Academy of Pediatrics
• Policy statement--emergency information forms and emergency preparedness for children with special health care needs - National Library of Medicine
• Disaster Safety for People with Disabilities - America Red Cross
• Emergency Kit Checklist for Kids and Families - CDC
• Emergency Kit Checklist for Families with Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs (CYSHCN) - CDC
• Build a Kit - Ready.gov
• People with Disabilities

Dr. Dennis Ren, along with Season 2 co-host Rachel Sarafin, PPN’s Director of Communications, discuss the standout moments from the previous season. These include compelling narratives of pediatric disaster readiness and response during significant incidents such as Hurricane Katrina and the Boston Marathon bombing. The season also underscored the crucial roles played by everyday individuals and young people during emergencies, highlighting the significance of fostering connections and community strength. Looking ahead, Ren and Sarafin plan to expand the podcast’s focus in upcoming seasons by featuring insights from a wider range of voices, beyond healthcare professionals, to encompass diverse global perspectives on disaster response.

Disaster medicine requires a multidisciplinary approach, similar to a team sport where diverse skills and backgrounds are essential. Ashley E. D. Kane, MD, MScR, a MedPeds-trained physician and a core faculty member of the Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess Disaster Medicine Fellowship, emphasizes the importance of infrastructure in disaster response and recovery, learned from her experiences in Guatemala and Malawi.

• Pediatric Disaster Medicine - World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Fellowship in Disaster Medicine - Harvard Medical School
• Participation of Children and Adolescents in Live Crisis Drills and Exercises - National Library of Medicine

Last year, the healthcare system faced a surge of COVID, influenza, and RSV cases, filling hospitals with children in critical condition. Despite the introduction of a promising new RSV treatment, nirsevimab, its rollout was hampered by supply shortages and logistical challenges. Daniel Dodson, MD, MS, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, explained that the limited supply required careful allocation to high-risk infants, leading to difficult decisions and impassioned pleas from caregivers.

• Nirsevimab (Beyfortus) – FAQs for Healthcare Professionals - Pediatric Pandemic Network
• Nirsevimab Frequently Asked Questions - American Academy of Pediatrics
• Nirsevimab for Prevention of RSV in Healthy Late -Preterm and Term Infants - The New England Journal of Medicine
• Immunizations to Protect Infants - CDC

Nikki Shimko, nurse manager of the Golisano Transport Team and president of the Florida Neonatal Pediatric Transport Network Association, recounts the harrowing experience of evacuating Golisano Children's Hospital during Hurricane Ian. Despite the lack of preparedness leading up to the hurricane, Nikki's team successfully evacuated 81 patients, including 62 neonates, over 160 miles to 15 facilities. The collaborative effort and preexisting networks proved invaluable in ensuring the safety and well-being of the patients, highlighting the importance of planning and relationships in disaster preparedness.

RESOURCES:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092022_Ian.pdf

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/inside-harrowing-48-hour-rush-evacuate-nicu-babies-90995512

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRpFrX3P8hM

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian's unexpected Category 5 landfall in Florida, the evacuation of Golisano Children's Hospital became a critical operation, highlighting the challenges and heroism of transport medicine teams. Phyllis Hendry, MD, FAAP, FACEP, a key figure in pediatric emergency care and transport services, sheds light on the complexities of pediatric transport, the necessity of community-based response, and the lessons learned from this harrowing event.

REASOURCES:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092022_Ian.pdf

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/inside-harrowing-48-hour-rush-evacuate-nicu-babies-90995512

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRpFrX3P8hM

Stephanie Chan, MPH, a research associate, discusses the vital role of youth as community health workers (CHWs) in bridging gaps in public health. By training and empowering youth aged 16 to 19, they become relatable ambassadors within their communities, tackling issues like vaccine hesitancy and misinformation surrounding COVID-19.

• COVID-19–Associated Orphanhood and Caregiver Death in the United States - American Academy of Pediatrics
• Community Health Workers - American Public Health Association
• Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda - National Library of Medicine

Becky Platt, ACP and volunteer with UK Med, shares her experiences providing medical aid to children in various parts of the world, notably focusing on her time in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh during a diphtheria outbreak.

• Refugee Camp
• Real-time analysis of the diphtheria outbreak in forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh - National Library of Medicine
• Diphtheria - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Ethical Obligations Regarding Short-Term Global Health Clinical Experiences: An American College of Physicians Position Paper - Annals of Internal Medicine
• Ethical Conduct of Humanitarian Medical Missions