The Disaster Response Collaborative (DRC) aims to improve pediatric disaster response capability and capacity among children’s hospitals. The DRC builds on the infrastructure formed during the Disaster Networking Collaborative (DNC), however prior DNC participation is not required. The DRC is designed to help children’s hospitals shift from improving their disaster preparedness infrastructure and networking toward strengthening their hospitals internal response as well as external (local, regional, and state) disaster response capabilities. These efforts will include refining disaster planning and mobilizing best practices while developing strategies to strengthen pediatric disaster management across states and regions.
Over 100 children’s hospitals in 40 U.S. states and one territory (and all federal regions) are participating in the DRC. The DRC teams include over 500 professionals who have various positions within children’s hospitals including clinical, emergency management, operations, facility, public relations, leadership and others. Any changes to participating children’s hospital team’s roster can be emailed to DNCPPN@austin.utexas.edu.
The DRC is based on select domains and pediatric disaster planning steps identified in the Emergency Medical Services for Children Innovation and Improvement Center resource, Checklist of Essential Pediatric Considerations for Every Hospital’s Disaster Policies (also known as “The Disaster Checklist”).
The DRC emphasizes that each team select one of four domains from the Disaster Checklist to assess and improve upon:
- Evacuation
- Pediatric Patient Tracking and Family Reunification
- Pediatric Surge Capacity
- Triage, Infection Control, and Decontamination
Teams are now meeting in DRC focus area sessions. DRC facilities that have not declared a focus area should email DNCPPN@austin.utexas.edu
How it works
Participants:
Attend recurring learning sessions with leaders and peers (monthly, via Zoom)
Assess their hospital’s current state of pediatric disaster response using provided tools
Evaluate and adjust activities to enhance your hospital’s disaster response plans to adopt consensus guidelines and, ultimately, be better ready/situated/prepared to drive future disaster response efforts
Select, design, and implement a project to improve disaster response at the hospital unit, entire hospital, community, and regional levels
Consider how enhancement of plans/protocols by participating in a tabletop exercise and two drills can help the team monitor and achieve improvements and desired outcomes
Connect with fellow participants to share ideas, barriers, and achievements
Quality Improvement
The DRC is a Quality Improvement (QI) collaborative. QI collaboratives are free to participants and anchored in QI science. QI collaboratives also engage children’s hospital representatives in networking opportunities, implementation of evidence-based practices, and improving current practices and protocols within their facility.
The DRC will provide children’s hospitals a space to develop and/or improve pediatric disaster plans and action steps related to the Disaster Checklist identified focus areas. Using QI tools and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Model for Improvement, hospitals will be encouraged to measure and track improvements through tabletop exercises and drills.
The DRC will convene for two years (September 2024 through June 2026) and will continue PPN and DNC efforts to bring together children’s hospitals across the U.S. to learn from one another and from pediatric experts in disaster management. This is a longer collaborative than the DNC was to allow for expanding skills and knowledge in pediatric focus areas, conducting exercises and drills, and discussing regional planning to build pediatric disaster response capability and capacity.
For additional information, see Participation Details, DRC Collaborative Sessions, and Resources and Materials.