Disaster Preparedness in Families With Children With Special Health Care Needs

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Public Health
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) face distinct challenges in disaster preparedness.
• Effective strategies are needed to enhance the readiness of these vulnerable families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a disaster supply starter kit intervention on the preparedness of families with CSHCN.
• To assess changes in the availability of emergency information forms and disaster kits post-intervention.

Main Methods:

• A 1-group pre-post cohort design was employed with consecutive enrollment at a pediatric medical home clinic.
• Surveys were administered before and after the intervention to compare preparedness levels.
• McNemar's test was used for statistical analysis of pre- and postintervention survey data.

Main Results:

• The percentage of families with an Emergency Information Form increased from 43% to 79% (P < .001).
• Disaster kit ownership surged from 18% to 99.6% post-intervention.
• Among those without a kit initially, 99% had one after the intervention, with 38% adding supplementary items.

Conclusions:

• An accessible, educational disaster supply starter kit intervention is effective in boosting family preparedness for CSHCN.
• Further research is warranted to explore the long-term sustainability and broader applicability of this intervention across diverse populations.