Rachel Mazzara is the Pediatric Emergency Preparedness Specialist at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Working in partnership with the Pediatric Pandemic Network, SSM System Environmental Safety and Emergency Preparedness and a multidisciplinary team across Cardinal Glennon, Rachel is hoping to establish a collaborative culture of preparedness within the hospital and lift up the unique needs of children and families during disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

An alum of Marquette University and Saint Louis University, Rachel’s past disaster experience includes, COVID-19 response, managing supply chain shortages, responding to mass casualty incidents and more. In her previous role as the St. Louis Regional Healthcare Coalition Coordinator, Rachel was responsible for overseeing the coordination of 10 counties, 5 emergency response disciplines, and numerous agencies to facilitate a uniformed response to all hazards. Here she wrote plans, developed drills and exercises and grew the regional response system overall – a success she will carry with her throughout the rest of her career.