Assisting Children in Times of Disaster
In times of disaster, children are more vulnerable than adults, not only in terms of their health,
but their risk of exploitation.
Children are not little adults, as their developing minds and bodies
place them...
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Assisting Children in Times of Disaster
In times of disaster, children are more vulnerable than adults, not only in terms of their health,
but their risk of exploitation.
Children are not little adults, as their developing minds and bodies
place them at disproportionate risk in a number of specific ways.
For those children who have
critical health needs, immediate steps must be taken to ensure that their physical and
psychological needs are addressed and the following considered:
Children’s Vulnerabilityi
• Children are particularly vulnerable to aerosolized biological or chemical agents because
they breathe more times per minute than adults, meaning they would get relatively larger
doses of the substance in the same period of time.
Also, because some such agents, (e.
g.
,
sarin and chlorine) are heavier than air, they accumulate close to the ground - right in the
breathing zone of children.
• Children are more vulnerable to agents that act on or through the skin
Less
