Lessons in Social Media – Preparing Kids and Community Leaders for Disasters

Crisis communications can – and should – occur in all phases of emergency management. These messages provide protective and preventative benefits for individuals and families against the adverse effects of any threats and hazards. However, they can also convey the whole community’s support through government leaders. COVID-19 demonstrated these benefits globally: effective risk communications for protective and preventative behaviors can reduce response missions and save lives. 

Addressing Children’s Needs in a Disaster 

In emergency preparedness, addressing children’s needs continues to be a struggle more than a decade after the 2010 publication of the National Commission on Children and Disasters Report. Social media has become an important vehicle for the National Pediatric Disaster Coalition, whose preparedness messages exclusively address the concerns for children in disasters. Leveraging social media influencers and platforms for community outreach is a crucial strategy to raise awareness and help address the unique needs of children in disaster planning and response. Crisis communicators can validate their social media outreach efforts by using the hashtag #Prep4TheKids. 

There is evidence of successful social media campaigns by governmental and non-governmental organizations affecting positive social reengineering by changing attitudes and behaviors for the benefit of all. One example is the U.S. National Park Service posts on X. However, crisis communications should follow standards and can be templated in advance. Following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) model, crisis messages should “Build trust and credibility by expressing empathy and caring, competence and expertise, honesty and openness, and commitment and dedication.” 

The National Pediatric Disaster Coalition’s social media posts focus on the National Response Framework’s 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) with the goals of: 

• Increasing public awareness of the essential need to include children (as individuals, families, and communities) on an all-threat, all-hazard basis and how emergencies and disasters can adversely impact children differently than adults; 

• Generating inquiries and modifications to planning for specific ESF leads based on impacts on children; and 

• Promoting a dialogue across a network of community partners to advance information sharing across disciplines to address the needs of children in disaster. 

For some, this advocacy campaign may be “aha” moments, with topics and concepts like “what you do not know, you do not know.” By socializing these campaigns, the knowledge can be shared and amplified for better community resilience. 

Categorizing Needs Based on ESFs 

The National Pediatric Disaster Coalition plans to launch its new social media campaign in August 2024. Following are examples of information the coalition intends to include in each ESF category. 

ESF 1 – Transportation: Safe transport, available car seats, and buses for children with disabilities, as well as access and functional needs, help ensure swift evacuation during emergencies. While many school districts have buses and safe transportation for children who utilize wheelchairs, these assets may not already be in that community’s emergency operations plan. 

ESF2 – Communications: Include educational institutions, daycare, and children’s hospitals as partners who need telecommunications capabilities and incident intelligence. Although there is a federal requirement for childcare settings to have a disaster plan in the United States, each state is responsible for ensuring that childcare providers comply with these requirements. Messaging campaigns emphasizing the importance of communicating with caregivers and their children are needed to bridge these gaps. 

ESF 3 – Public Works and Engineering: Shelters, educational institutions, and childcare facilities should be considered essential and critical infrastructure. Restoring the capabilities of a community’s educational and childcare facilities should be a high priority. Identifying and incorporating these key resource sites into emergency plans as part of the deliberative planning process are necessary. 

ESF 4-Firefighting: Fire prevention education can start as early as one year of age. Socialize toddlers by planning a visit to the local fire department. Read books about firefighters and visit the NFPA Sparky website, which has activities for all ages. Engaging fire departments in disaster preparedness is a natural evolution of their current fire safety programming, which began in the 1970s. Well-prepared children who know what to do are more resilient and better equipped to help others and save lives. 

ESF 5 – Information and Planning: Include pediatric assessments in all-hazards incident preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation deliberative planning. Knowing the community demographics and social determinants is essential to understanding the risks to vulnerable populations. Using tools such as the Pediatric Hazard Vulnerability Analysis and the Regional Metrics Score Card developed by Region V for Kids Pediatric Disaster Center of Excellence ensures children are included in the all-hazards planning process. 

ESF 6 – Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing, Human Services: Ensure children arriving at shelters have age-appropriate food, water, clothing, shelter, and sanitation. Children require age-appropriate accommodation to address their basic needs and provide for their well-being. For example, norovirus is a common problem in congregate settings that are overcrowded, placing children at high risk of infection and hospitalization. 

ESF 7 – Logistics: Children need critical supplies and services delivered to disaster support sites sooner than most adults. According to the 2023 National Preparedness Survey, only 48% of the respondents had taken steps to prepare adequate supplies to shelter in place, much less if they were required to evacuate. Essential items like diapers, infant/toddler food and feeding support items, clothing, and portable cribs need to be readily available. 

ESF 8 – Public Health and Medical: Triage and treatment protocols for children, especially unaccompanied minors, are vastly different than for adults. Access to care for children is highly variable across the U.S. Children’s hospitals with the highest capability to treat children represent less than 5% of all hospitals in the U.S. and may require seriously ill children to be moved great distances in response to a mass casualty incident. During the 2023 Tripledemic, some states implemented pediatric medical operating coordination centers to allocate pediatric beds to children with the highest need. 

ESF 9 – Search and Rescue: Ensure children’s swift and safe rescue during emergencies, understanding they may be fearful, hide, or not cooperate with rescuers. Disasters frighten young children who may not understand what is happening around them. Children with behavioral disorders and disabilities are particularly at risk. For example, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder sometimes hide in response to stimuli around them and may not recognize responders are there to help. 

ESF 10 – Oil and Hazardous Response: Ensure children’s safety by addressing environmental hazards caused by floods, wildfires, and other emergencies. All children are at a higher risk of harm from environmental hazards associated with wildfire, floods, and toxins. Their smaller airways, faster breathing rates, and longer periods of outdoor activity increase their risk and exposure. Children with pre-existing health conditions are at even higher risk. 

ESF 11 – Agriculture and Natural Resources: Ensuring children have healthy meals during emergencies through secured agricultural resources is a life safety priority. Children not only require access to age-appropriate foods but suffer nutritional harm when school-based meal programs are disrupted. During COVID-19, communities mobilized logistics to meet the challenge of getting nutritious meals to children who needed them most. 

ESF 12 – Energy: Ensuring a reliable energy supply during emergencies helps keep children safe, warm, and connected to their families. Schools, childcare, and healthcare settings cannot return to normal operations without power. Plans to restore power and fuel delivery for generators should prioritize schools and childcare settings. Mechanisms to acquire portable batteries and generators should be part of community access and functional needs preparedness programs for technology-dependent children. 

ESF 13 – Public Safety and Security: Create safe and secure spaces for children from the threats of trafficking and abuse and prevent separation during emergencies. In the chaos of a disaster, children can become separated, lost, victimized, or trafficked during the event. For example, during Katrina, some 5,000 children were separated from loved ones, requiring a massive response from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in collaboration with law enforcement for family reunification. 

ESF 14 – Cross-Sector Business and Infrastructure: Ensuring the rapid restoration of businesses and critical infrastructure means children and their families can move toward “normalcy” faster after emergencies. Reopening schools after a disaster is a key indicator of community recovery. The routine of going back to school can support the well-being of children and their families. It represents the ability of children to get school meals and for parents, teachers, and school workforce to return to a familiar routine. 

ESF 15 – External Affairs: Schools, childcare, and families of children with disabilities have clear guidance in their daily languages to respond to community alerts. Communication in times of crisis should be “plain language” and simple enough for children to understand how to stay safe and get help quickly in languages their families use. One documentary film found that over 11 million children act as translators for their families and may be the only family members to help other members navigate disaster alerts and messages. 

Inspiring Communities Through Social Media 

The National Pediatric Disaster Coalition has learned that social media provides a unique environment to inspire individuals. Multidisciplinary public-private organizations can create inclusive preparedness messaging designed to address the needs of children in disaster by: 

• Growing a community of social media information-sharing partner organizations and influencers who include images of children in preparedness posts, provide translated versions, and offer links to just-in-time operational resources to be “reshared” by their followers; 

• Laying a foundation for college and university communications majors to co-opt these messages as public service announcement creation projects and refine and revise for everyone’s benefit; and 

• Encouraging stakeholders to access the evidence-based resources of the Pediatric Pandemic Network and Pediatric Disaster Centers of Excellence. 

Incorporating the needs of children into disaster preparedness and response plans is not just a necessity. It is a moral imperative for professional emergency managers and public safety personnel. Social media offers a powerful platform to raise awareness, educate the community, and ensure that children’s needs are front and center in emergency planning. By leveraging social media effectively, practitioners can build a more resilient community where every child is safe and supported in the face of disaster. Consider connecting and engaging with the National Pediatric Disaster Coalition’s social media and create community outreach campaigns that #Prep4TheKids.