IRWIN REDLENER

There are several very good websites which describe the details of preparedness planning for citizens.

The problem with most children's hospitals is that they are passive. They are high quality. They are filled with the best doctors. But their function is to wait until kids get sick and get referred in.

Every single administration in American political history has put cronies and pals and donors into political positions. But normally those people become the ambassador to Liechtenstein or the deputy undersecretary of commerce.

Immigrant children are highly vulnerable. Their level of disadvantage and fragility has consistently grown due to factors outside their control.

The reality is that it's harder to recruit pediatric subspecialists if you're not recruiting them for a children's hospital.

Every school should have well-rehearsed emergency response protocols covering a variety of possible scenarios, from fire to armed intruders. Schools should have good lines of communications with local emergency response officials and practice those relationships in drills and special exercises.

Fallout shelters are like bell-bottoms. They've gone in and out of favor.

If we ensure access to health care and 'best practice' asthma treatment for children, especially those at high risk, there is the potential to save the health care system billions of dollars.

The risks are far greater to your child of not getting immunized than any kind of speculative potential relationship between the vaccine and the development of autism.

Disasters like Oklahoma City and 9/11 were time-limited. The children who were affected psychologically could go to a place of normalcy.

Kids get a lot of lip service in disaster planning, but they tend to get far fewer resources than they need. The mantra of 'children are our most valuable resource' is almost never matched by actual funding.

The larger the disaster, the more necessary it is to have the government as the principal driver of recovery.

Having insurance doesn't guarantee good health outcomes, but it is a critical factor.

Hospitals are about healing.

There isn't a single American city, in my estimation, that has sufficient plans for a nuclear terrorist event.

Nuclear terrorism is possible - it may be probable - but is survivable.

Many low-income children face chronic stress from nutritional deprivation or persistent violence at home or in the community. By addressing their medical, emotional and developmental needs through a comprehensive clinical care model, we can lower their risk of developing long-term physical and mental health issues.

Police officers and firemen are so visible in their daily work, there's no mistaking they're there - and that presence makes people feel secure.

President Obama was deeply and clearly affected by the Sandy Hook disaster.

There has been a transition from a nuclear-annihilation scenario to an isolated-terrorist-nuclear-bomb scenario. But we're still locked into a mind-set that nuclear war would be so overwhelming that any kind of preparedness would be futile.

Even the best community organizations and faith-based initiatives and the extraordinary charity of Americans across the country can't carry the brunt of eliminating poverty.

Poverty-fighting programs are not handouts - they are investments.

No organization should be allowed near disaster unless they are willing to cooperate with some level of established leadership.

Very large scale disasters, especially those that have occurred in the developing world, have very long recovery periods.

There's only so much academic disruption that a young child can deal with before he just can't catch up.