Children in Disasters: What CDC is Doing

Overview

Public health emergencies, such as natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or terrorist attacks, can happen anywhere and at any time.

Children, particularly children with special healthcare needs, are especially vulnerable during disasters, as they can affect children differently than adults.

Communities may face challenges protecting children during emergencies because of economic, geographic, or other disparities. Rural communities may have less access to facilities equipped to treat complex pediatric injuries with less access to pediatric specific specialty care and equipment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to addressing the needs of children in a disaster by promoting the inclusion of children's needs in federal, state, and local levels of planning for public health emergencies.

Protecting children today

In 2012, CDC established the Children 's Preparedness Unit (CPU) which worked to protect children before, during, and after an emergency.In 2022, the School Preparedness Unit (SPU) formed to support the needs of schools during emergencies. These two units combined in 2024 to form the Children and School Preparedness Unit (CSPU). This unit aims to support the needs of children across the settings that assist them during an emergency (schools, healthcare/public health, community, and family). The team is led by a pediatrician and includes dedicated scientists with expertise on children and disasters.

CSPU works towards ensuring children's needs are included at every level of emergency planning. The unit works with external groups and internal CDC partners in environmental health, infectious diseases, injury prevention, school health, and global health. CSPU supports the emergency response needs of children and has participated in several CDC responses including:

CDC and CSPU emergency responses:

• 2025: Measles
• 2024: mpox Clade I
• 2022: mpox Clade IIb
• 2020: COVID-19
• 2019: Outbreak of e-cigarette vaping, product use-associated lung injury
• 2018: Hurricanes Florence and Michael
• 2017: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria
• 2016: Hurricane Matthew
• 2015–2017: Zika virus
• 2016: Flint, MI water contamination
• 2014–2015: Ebola virus
• 2014: Unaccompanied Minor Response

Emergency planning for the future: Including children’s health needs

Children require special attention in all areas of public health response planning for emergencies across the settings in which children live, play, and learn. This includes evacuation, safe sheltering, reunification, and clean-up of dangerous and toxic substances. CSPU focuses on supporting this inclusion across community, healthcare, and home settings.

Establishing connections between emergency response planners, medical providers, and education professionals is an important way to strengthen a response. Each partner in a response needs to understand the roles they play in an emergency. It is critical that they work together with families to successfully protect children in emergencies.

Resources

Bartenfeld M, Peacock G, Griese S. Public Health Emergency Planning for Children in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Disasters. Biosecur Bioterror. 2014 Jul-Aug;12(4):201-207. DOI: 10.1089/bsp.2014.0036.

Disasters and Children

Dziuban EJ, Peacock G, Frogel M. A Child's Health is the Public's Health: Progress and Gaps in Addressing Pediatric Needs in Public Health Emergencies. Am J Public Health. 2017;107:S134–S137. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303950

Franks JL. The Importance of Including Children in Emergency Preparedness. Child Care Aware of America. 2017.

Goodman AB, Dziuban EJ, Powell K, Bitsko BH, Langley G, Lindsey N, Franks JL, Russell K, Dasgupta S, Barfield WD, Odom E, Kahn E, Martin S, Fischer M, Staples JE. Characteristics of Children Aged <18 Years with Zika Virus Disease Acquired Postnatally — U.S. States, January 2015–July 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65:1082-1085. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6539e2.