Disaster Preparedness for Children with Medical Complexity: Aligning Policy, Technology, and Care Systems with Clinical Reality

jpedsurg.org

Children with medical complexity (CMC) depend on continuous access to life-sustaining nutrition, medications, and device-based therapies. In routine conditions, this dependence requires careful coordination across caregivers, health systems, and supply chains. During disasters, however, these same dependencies transform into immediate threats to survival. Natural and human-made emergencies can simultaneously increase demand for health care services while disrupting already fragile medical product supply chains, creating conditions in which local and regional systems may be overwhelmed.

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Article · Apr 2026 · 1 min read

In brief

This article examines disaster preparedness strategies for children with medical complexity who require continuous access to life-sustaining therapies and medical devices. It addresses how natural and human-made emergencies disrupt fragile supply chains and overwhelm healthcare systems, creating survival threats for technology-dependent pediatric patients.

CMC require continuous access to nutrition, medications, and device-based therapies that become survival threats during disasters.
Disasters simultaneously increase healthcare demand while disrupting medical supply chains critical for CMC.
Routine care coordination for CMC must include disaster preparedness planning to prevent life-threatening gaps.
Local and regional health systems serving CMC are vulnerable to being overwhelmed during emergencies.
Medical complexity creates unique disaster vulnerabilities requiring alignment of policy, technology, and care delivery systems.

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