Quotes from Irwin Redlener

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

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.

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.

Seven million ship cargo containers come into the United States every year. Five to seven percent only are inspected - five to seven percent.

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

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.

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

When children are hungry, sleepy from a night spent fighting untreated asthma, or hobbled by symptoms of undiagnosed illnesses, they are less likely to do well in school.

There's detailed information on how to assemble a nuclear weapon from parts. There's books about how to build a nuclear bomb.

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.

Poverty leads to hardship and failure.

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

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

If a severe pandemic materializes, all of society could pay a heavy price for decades of failing to create a rational system of health care that works for all of us.

Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program are the two most important safety net programs for children.

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

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

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

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

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

The best way to get a sense of what kinds of emergencies might present themselves in your community is by contacting local chapters of the American Red Cross or offices of emergency management in the region or state. Most large cities will have their own offices of emergency management.

Hospitals are about healing.

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

Americans do not have a good track record when it comes to preparing for disasters, unless they see a clear possibility of personally being in harms way.