AAP Offers Flood Cleanup Guidance

An experienced pediatric surgeon, Dr. Mark Holterman has served as a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine for the past six years. Outside of his work as an educator, Mark Holterman, MD, is a longtime member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

In the wake of recent hurricanes throughout the southeastern region of the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released guidelines for communities to ensure children remain safe and healthy as cleanup efforts continue. 

According to AAP officials, children are especially vulnerable to illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances present in floodwaters that linger after a hurricane--contamination that remains even after the waters recede. To ensure safety, children should not be brought back to flood-affected school areas until the buildings and playground equipment have been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. Additionally, drinking water should be restored and large items of debris cleared out before kids come back, and they should not be involved in the cleanup work in any capacity.