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Family Reunification After Disasters

  • Disaster Medicine (M Anderson and M Dingeldein, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Family reunification after disasters remains a priority for all involved in disaster response. The psychological stress for children separated from their families after disasters can be significant and the effects can be prolonged. Unfortunately, planning for family reunification after disasters continues to be fragmented and only exists in silos. This is particularly true in the medical arena where hospital staff must prepare to both care for unidentified children with unknown medical histories and reunite them with their families. Pediatric health care providers have many opportunities to help families and their communities, including schools and daycares, plan for such disasters. The purpose of the article is to present the effects of delayed family reunification on children, the role of the pediatric health care provider in individual family and community reunification planning, available family reunification resources, reunification systems including social media, and use of technology for family reunification. Recommendations for next steps for creating a more coordinated family reunification system will also be provided.

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References and Recommended Reading

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, St Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Rachel L. Charney MD

  2. Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Sarita Chung MD

Authors
  1. Rachel L. Charney MD
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  2. Sarita Chung MD
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Correspondence to Sarita Chung MD.

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Conflict of Interest

Rachel L. Charney and Sarita Chung declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Disaster Medicine

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Charney, R.L., Chung, S. Family Reunification After Disasters. Curr Treat Options Peds 3, 283–292 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40746-017-0097-5

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