How the LA wildfires are impacting children and families

The emotional and physical well-being of children impacted by LA’s wildfire disaster is a major concern for parents and healthcare professionals. USC experts are available to discuss how to safeguard children’s respiratory and mental health.

Contact: USC Media Relations, uscnews@usc.edu or (213) 740-2215

What’s the best way to talk — and listen — to children impacted by the wildfires?

“Children will have varied responses to a devastating event like the recent wildfires,” said Julie Cederbaum, an associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. “For some, there may have been an immediate fear during the event. This is a typical response, particularly as children watch how much distress their parents might have been experiencing during the events. For others, the impact of the fires, even if one’s home was not directly impacted, may be more long-lasting.”

“The way children express their worries or fears will differ by their age and developmental stage,” she said. “For example, toddlers may engage in play that includes fictional fire because play is the way that children in this developmental stage often express and process their feelings. You also may see regression in younger kids, meaning they are reverting to behaviors they did when they were younger.”

“Allowing space for children to process their thoughts and feelings and being patient with children displaying regressive behaviors is important. For school-age children, providing space for them to talk about what they have heard and to explain things to them using age-appropriate language helps them know it is okay to talk about their thoughts and feelings with you.”

Contact: jcederba@usc.edu

Social inequalities deepen the challenges of recovery for families displaced by disaster

“When families with children experience disaster-induced community loss and displacement they are not only in need of a place to sleep at night, but also a place that becomes the center of the full ecosystem of informal support and formal institutions on which parents and children are dependent,” said Emily Smith-Greenaway, whose research examines how social conditions impact individual and family well-being and experiences.

“Anyone who lives in a community is rooted in it, but kids have a way of creating a deeper, more complex root system, making the uprooting of it all and the need to replant one’s family elsewhere an especially daunting task,” said Smith Greenaway, a professor of sociology and spatial sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

“There is often a sense that Mother Nature is the great equalizer—she pays no mind to what we humans engineer and manufacture, including the inequalities on which we build our societies,” she said. “Yet in reality access to resources color every dimension of navigating a natural disaster; the ability to prepare, to protect, and to pick up the pieces in its aftermath is aided by resources.”

Contact: smithgre@usc.edu

Trauma’s lasting effects on the brain and body

“After a scary event, both kids and adults may be especially sensitive to danger cues or reminders of the threatening event. They might experience flashbacks, bad dreams, a hair-trigger startle response, or a desire to avoid cues (like certain places, people, or even sensory experiences, like the smell of smoke) that remind them of the trauma,” said Darby Saxbe, an expert on the neurobiology of parenting, stress and coping within families.

“It’s also very normal for trauma survivors to feel irritable, sad, or burned out. Importantly, even vicarious trauma — like seeing images of the fire on the news — can affect our sense of safety and well-being,” said Saxbe, a professor of psychology and principal investigator of the NeuroEndocrinology of Social Ties (NEST) Lab at USC Dornsife.

Contact: dsaxbe@usc.edu

Schools provide safe spaces, stability for children and families

“Schools play such a vital role in providing a safe space and reestablishing stability,” said Vivien Villaverde, an associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, who specializes in helping school communities recover from traumatic events. “Parents are going to be busy with problem-solving and rebuilding. Children need to be in an environment where they feel connected and feel a sense of belonging. Parents and caregivers need this sanctuary so they don’t have to worry about the kids — so they can attend to the priorities of rebuilding.”

Villaverde is leading various trauma-focused training and workshops for support services staff, teachers and administrators with the Pasadena Unified School District. She’s also providing “psychological first aid” training for school social workers and MSW interns as they prepare to welcome back students impacted by the wildfires.

“Schools are parents’ partner in creating that reliable safe space. Schools have to be prepared on how to support the students who are coming back,” said Villaverde, who is also co-founder of the USC Center for Safe & Resilient Schools and Workplaces.

Contact: villaver@usc.edu

Respiratory health in children is top of mind for doctors

Veronica Vasquez-Montez, associate chief medical director and medical director of the emergency department at USC Arcadia Hospital, has seen an uptick in cases of asthma-related issues among children in the USC Arcadia Hospital emergency department due to the poor air quality and smoke exposure.

“Exposure to wildfire smoke and other toxins in the air can be detrimental to children with asthma and other underlying respiratory conditions,” Vasquez-Montez said. “Environmental irritants such as these can trigger an asthma exacerbation, including wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. This may require medical attention in the emergency department.”

Parents and guardians with children in areas affected by wildfire smoke should be especially vigilant to avoid strenuous exercise outdoors. If the air quality is especially poor, using an N95 or KN95 mask is recommended, advises Carl Chudnofsky, an emergency medicine physician with Keck Medicine of USC and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine with the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“Children are particularly vulnerable because they breathe more air relative to their body size and are often outdoors,” said Michelle Chu, an assistant professor at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Create a clean air room by using air conditioning with a high-efficiency filter and sealing windows and doors to prevent outdoor air from entering. If asthma symptoms worsen, refer to the personalized asthma action plan. Ensure sufficient medication is on hand and review proper inhaler techniques with your child. Consult a healthcare provider during routine checkups to adjust the plan as needed for wildfire season.”

Contact: lhopper@usc.edu

Additional Experts

Gale Sinatra, USC Rossier Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education, is an expert in the fields of climate change education, science communication and the psychology of learning. With a focus on how individuals form and change their beliefs about scientific issues, particularly climate change, Sinatra uses her research to understand the cognitive and emotional factors that influence people’s attitudes toward environmental issues.

She can discuss the impact of climate change on local events, such as the increasingly frequent and intense wildfires in Los Angeles, helping students understand the direct consequences of climate change on their community and environment.

Contact: gsinatra@usc.edu

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