Emergency Disaster Preparedness Toolkits

Disaster Preparedness Toolkit for Families with Children with Special Health Care Needs

The Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication (CPHRC) at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health conducts research and provides service and education in the field of public health emergency preparedness.

In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CPHRC collaborated on a four-year project with the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University, the PA Medical Home Program at the Pennsylvania Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia to study the disaster information needs of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). To help address these disaster information needs, we created a toolkit of disaster preparedness resources for families of CYSHCN and their health care providers. To access the resources and learn more about the toolkit, click here.

PREPaRE Training and Companion Toolkit

The PREPaRE (Partners in Pediatric Readiness, Emergency Preparedness, and Response Education)Training and Companion Toolkit were co-developed with cross-sector key partners serving Pennsylvania: Drexel University and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC), The Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership (PEAL) Center, Hispanos Unidos para Niños Excepcionales (HUNE), Inc. (Hispanics United for Exceptional Children), with technical support from the Boston University Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health.

The PREPaRE training videos and companion resource toolkit provide practical guidance and tools to improve emergency preparedness and response between families of children with complex needs and first responders. Families are recognized as equal in the emergency workforce working to keep children with complex needs safe and healthy. All resources within this training and companion resource toolkit are either directly useful to families of children with complex needs and/or first responders. These workforces can share resources with each other to collaborate and co-learn, to best prepare for emergencies and to better communicate together during an emergency situation. PREPaRE Training and Companion Toolkit

Trainings can be offered for parents/caregivers of children and youth with special health care needs; community partners; medical practices and health professionals; home nursing agencies; emergency medical personnel and educators. Requests for more information and/or training, please contact PA Medical Home Program