The Disaster Response Collaborative (DRC) Begins September 2024.
Learn about the DRC
The informational webinar, “Disaster Response for Children’s Hospitals: Strategies for Effective Planning and Response,” was held March 18. You may download the presentation or view the recording below.
DRC Registration
Registration for the Disaster Response Collaborative (DRC) is open! Each person representing a children’s hospital may register a team of 2 or more participants. Only one registration per hospital is needed.
The Disaster Response Collaborative (DRC) continues the work of the Disaster Networking Collaborative (DNC), and both are initiatives of the Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN). These initiatives support ongoing efforts to form a network of children’s hospitals that are (individually and collectively) prepared to respond to disasters and pandemics. The goal of the DRC is to improve pediatric disaster response capability and capacity among children’s hospitals.
Strategic response efforts in caring for children during emergencies, disasters, and pandemics are necessary. Children under 18 years of age comprise about a quarter of the population; however, they represent more than 50% of the population in some places. Children’s hospital disaster response plans can be more robust in addressing pediatric priorities.
This collaborative focuses on four priority areas: evacuation, reunification, surge, and triage/infection control/decontamination. The DRC will help children’s hospitals to lead the alignment of these efforts and provide quality care for all children when and where it is needed during an emergency, disaster, or pandemic. The DRC will provide guidance and resources to support participants to implement improvements and to use tabletop exercises and drills to monitor and track improvements in disaster response.
Through offering opportunities for education, networking, sharing of evidence-based practices, and exchanging new ideas and strategies, this collaborative will also support the workforce resiliency of employees at children’s hospitals by improving their job satisfaction.
For more information, email DNCPPN@austin.utexas.edu.