Why I Serve...
" Disasters are becoming more frequent, and children remain vulnerable to them. As part of the NACCD, I aim to give kids better opportunities to avoid disasters, survive disasters, and realize their potential. "
Mark X. Cicero, MD is the director of pediatric disaster preparedness for the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, and has over fifteen years of experience as a disaster educator and researcher. He has served as a medical officer for the CT-1 DMAT team for over a decade, and has guided responses to mass casualty events, hurricanes and two pandemics. He is a graduate of the Academic Pediatric Association Educational Scholars Program, and has developed disaster and EMS curricula used worldwide. Within the Emergency Medical Services for Children, he serves as a SME for disaster preparedness and pediatric EMS preparedness, care, education and improvement. In the Pediatric Pandemic Network, he leads the Everyday Readiness Education Committee. Dr. Cicero is former chair of the National Association of EMS Physicians Pediatrics Committee, where he led efforts to improve pediatric medication dosing safety and EMS pandemic response. He serves as the NAEMSP liaison to COPEM, and as an executive member of the national pediatric disaster coalition.
Dr. Cicero's previous service includes service on the ASPR National Biodefense Science Board. His history of federally grant-funded leadership includes a three-year EMSC Targeted-Issues project developing a curriculum for pediatric disaster preparedness and response, an AHRQ-sponsored project that developed, implemented and tested a pediatric disaster triage video game, and his current EMSC-TI project which leverages education to improve the quality of prehospital pediatric EMS care via simulation and implementation of pediatric emergency care coordinators. He is a frequent speaker at EMSC activities, nationally, and internationally about pediatric disaster education.
