Disaster Networking Collaborative (DNC)

The DNC Structure 

The Disaster Networking Collaborative is designed to help children’s hospitals identify and refine best practices while developing strategies to increase awareness and strengthen pediatric disaster planning and response across all states and regions.

The DNC is a Quality Improvement (QI) collaborative. QI collaboratives, which are free to participants and anchored in QI science, engage health care leaders in networking opportunities, identification of evidence-based practices, and local efforts to improve pediatric emergency care. Collaboratives bring together health care practitioners from diverse settings to develop and share best practices and collectively integrate the needs of children into emergency care systems. 

Children’s hospitals have an opportunity to be leaders in improving nationwide pediatric disaster preparedness. The DNC was developed to help children’s hospitals improve pediatric disaster preparedness through change strategies focused on select areas such as: 

• C-suite engagement and support for pediatric preparedness planning and infrastructure 
• Consistency across recommended disaster roles and responsibilities 
• Community and youth engagement planning and outreach, particularly with the emergency management landscape

The DNC will last 10 months (September 2023 through June 2024) and will bring together children’s hospitals across the U.S. to share ideas and experiences and learn from one another and from Pediatric Preparedness Network experts. 

What’s Next?

To provide the best care for kids in a disaster or pandemic, an organization must first have an effective infrastructure in place. Children’s hospitals participating in DNC are achieving this as part of a network of children’s hospitals that work collaboratively to share ideas, best practices, and resources. Participants in the DNC are working to enhance their pediatric preparedness, both internally and externally.

The DNC is a foundation for future national efforts to enhance pediatric disaster preparedness and response. In 2024, following the establishment of this robust network of pediatric disaster champions, the next phase – a Disaster Response Collaborative – will allow for participating children’s hospitals to shift from improving infrastructure and networking toward strengthening local, regional, and statewide disaster response capabilities, with a focus on select disaster response areas, including:

• Evacuation
• Patient Tracking and Family Reunification
• Pediatric Surge Capacity
• Triage, Infection Control, and Decontamination

Together, these two collaboratives will contribute critical knowledge and tools to help ensure children’s needs are a core consideration in disaster planning and response at all levels.

For more information, visit information on upcoming sessions, related resources, and children’s hospitals participating in the DNC.

Learn How the Collaborative Works