Caring for children affected by disaster

The child and adolescent psychiatrist must play an essential role in the wake of disaster. The focus of the community and the world understandably turns to the physical devastation wrought, and emergency and medical efforts take center stage. Physical evidence of the past may be lost, but the child psychiatrist is able to maintain focus on what cannot be seen. He or she may be the only one to advocate the child's emotional needs. It may be too difficult for others who lack the specialized expertise of mental health training to attend to both the child's physical and emotional needs, and it may be impossible for those without medical training to impress on medical personnel the importance of emotional issues. The child and adolescent psychiatrist, with his or her understanding of medical, mental health, and developmental concerns, is well positioned to support the child, the child's community, and the helpers whose own responses may complicate recovery.