3. The Pediatric Disaster Behavioral Health Framework

3.5. Toolkit Development

This toolkit was developed through a structured, iterative process that synthesized expertise from behavioral health, disaster mental health, health administration and operations, emergency medicine, pediatrics, public health, emergency management, social work, telehealth, emergency medical services, disaster research, and family advocacy. An initial drafting team of researchers, mental health professionals, social workers, and emergency managers identified key actions needed to support pediatric behavioral health during disasters, drawing on both research and field-tested experience. These inputs were synthesized into potential organizing frameworks and refined through multiple rounds of feedback. Once the framework was established, the broader toolkit scope and content were drafted and revised over several iterative cycles.

An initial draft was reviewed by disaster mental health professionals, emergency managers, disaster responders, and clinicians to guide refinement of the toolkit. The revised draft was then circulated to a broader group of external reviewers, including disaster response organizations, children’s hospitals, community hospitals, health care coalitions, associations, mental health professionals, emergency medical services providers, researchers, educators, family advocates, and emergency managers. In addition to this broad feedback, final revisions were informed by findings from the Pediatric Pandemic Network’s Disaster Mental Health Delphi study (manuscript in progress). As such, this toolkit reflects the synthesis of a broad spectrum of expertise, experience, research, and perspectives dedicated to improving the ability of children’s hospitals and their communities to meet pediatric behavioral health needs after disasters

Editors:

Trevor Covington, M.S., C.E.M.
Owner & Senior Consultant, Protean Preparedness LLC
Mental Health and Washington State Coordinator, Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Management
Mental and Behavioral Health Domain Manager, Pediatric Pandemic Network
Olympia, Washington

Christopher Gable, DO, FAAP
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Department of Emergency Medicine and Trauma Services
Children’s National Hospital
Mental and Behavioral Health Domain Lead, Pediatric Pandemic Network
Washington, DC

Project Coordinator:

Danielle Cory, MENG
Project Manager Research
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Mental and Behavioral Domain Coordinator, Pediatric Pandemic Network
Chicago, IL

Authors:

Kimberly Burkhart, Ph.D., ABPP
Board-Certified Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist
Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio

Patty Davis, LSCSW, LCSW, IMH-E®
Children’s Mercy Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri

Ashley A. Foster, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California

Ian Kodish, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Seattle, Washington

Kira Mauseth, Ph.D.
Astrum Health LLC
Behavioral Health Research Group, Department of Psychology, Seattle University
Seattle, Washington

Tona L. McGuire, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington

PPN Education & Communications Teams

Special thanks to PPN’s Communications and Education teams who contributed significantly to the graphics, accessibility, digital integration, and design of this toolkit.

Reviewers

Heather Austin, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Abby Bailey, MPH, NRP
Norton Children’s Hospital
Louisville, Kentucky

Susan Barrett, MA
Co-Director, Technical Assistance, School Behavioral Health Team
Center on PBIS
Santa Rosa, California

Heidi Baskfield
Vice President, Mental and Population Health
Children’s Hospital Association
Washington, District of Columbia, and Lenexa, Kansas

Lee Beers, M.D., FAAP
Washington, District of Columbia

Colleen Cicchetti, Ph.D.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Emily Dorosz, MSN, RN
DC Emergency Medical Services for Children
Washington, District of Columbia

Carrie Epstein, LCSW-R
Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery
New Haven, Connecticut

Jennifer Freeman, Ph.D.
Professor of Special Education
Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut

Steve Goodman, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut

Hilary Hahn, Ed.M., MPH
Yale School of Medicine, Child Study Center
New Haven, Connecticut

Chris McCarthy
Emergency Preparedness Solutions LLC
Pediatric Pandemic Network

David C. McCarthy, B.A., NREMT (Ret.)
Emergency Preparedness Solutions LLC
Pediatric Pandemic Network

Annette Newman, MS, RN, CCRN
Pediatric Pandemic Network
Salt Lake City, Utah

Ronald Ruffing, M.D., M.P.H., M.P.S.
Pediatric Pandemic Network
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Mohsen Saidinejad, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., FAAP, FACEP
The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA
Torrance, California

Merritt D. Schreiber, Ph.D.
The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA
Los Angeles, California

Theresa Ryan Schultz, Ph.D., MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

Lauren Young Work, LCSW
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue
Palm Beach County, Florida