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.
Children’s hospitals within the U.S. and U.S. Territories are invited to register for the DRC by having a team leader or point of contact from the hospital complete a short form. Only one person from each children’s hospital should register a team for the DRC and each children’s hospital should register only one team. If multiple teams register from the same hospital, they will be contacted to discuss participation options.
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 Domains and Considerations for Every Hospitals Disaster Policies (also known as “The Disaster Checklist”).
DRC Objectives and Focus Areas
DRC objectives include:
- Assessing the current state of readiness for pediatric disaster response among participating hospitals.
- Expanding capabilities of children’s hospitals for pediatric disaster response in four areas.
- Encouraging participation in or observation of tabletop exercises and drills (with tools, such as guidance, planning templates, and pediatric patient scenarios provided).
- Improving commitment and support – internally with collaboration and communication across various areas of the hospital, and externally through leadership and participation in healthcare coalitions and other community- and family-based organizations.
- Creating a forum or a network for a coordinated regional and national response among children’s hospitals in a national disaster, pandemic, or surge event through various strategies including joint exercises and drills.
The DRC will emphasize the following focus areas (children’s hospitals will select one area to assess and improve upon):
- Evacuation
- Pediatric Patient Tracking and Family Reunification
- Pediatric Surge Capacity
- Triage, Infection Control, and Decontamination
The selection of each team’s area of improvement will not occur until early 2025, after all orientation information has been shared and discussed during collaborative sessions.
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 focus areas, conducting exercises and drills, and discussing regional planning to build pediatric disaster response capability and capacity.
For additional information, see details on participation, upcoming sessions, DRC resources, and children’s hospitals participating in the DRC.