Focus Area: Pediatric Patient Tracking and Family Reunification

Picture this: two school buses en route with 60 children to an off-campus field trip are pushed off the road when a large utility truck loses control on the highway. Most of the children have only minor injuries. Yet, several children sustained more significant trauma. Community emergencies or disasters can occur at any time of day, including when children may be separated from their parents due to child care, school, camp, or while in the care of others. Children’s hospitals can provide tremendous support to children and families by collaborating with general hospitals, emergency management services, governmental agencies, and community organizations on creating disaster plans that include tracking individuals and reuniting families. In addition, the public expects that hospitals will provide non-medical services such as family reunification during disasters. Experience has shown that family members and friends will present to the nearest hospitals in search of each missing loved one. Planning to address the complexities of family reunification prevents communications and hospital operations from becoming overwhelmed.

Meeting Schedule

All meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month from 2:30 to 3:45 pm CT.

Session DateLinksSession Details
2025
March 4DetailsRecording and Slides
April 1DetailsRecording and Slides
May 6 (Full Collaborative)Register
June 3
July 1
August 5 (Full Collaborative)Register
September 2
October 7
November 4 (Full Collaborative)Register
December 9 (Office Hours)
2026
January 6
February 3 (Full Collaborative)Register
March 3
April 7
May 5 (Full Collaborative)Register
June 2

Planning

For pediatric patient tracking and family reunification, it is critical to have plans in place to prepare for the arrival of unaccompanied minors, develop family tracking and reunification policies, stand up necessary areas for various functions, and consider special security situations.

Plans should include or address the following:

  • Forming a multidisciplinary planning team to produce hospital and community reunification plans
  • Agreement on how best to coordinate with local law enforcement, social services, school districts, and other groups to coordinate reunification approach
  • Development of protocols, actions, and assignments for initiating Hospital Incident Command and/or the facility’s reunification plan
  • Coordination of communications (e.g., 800 telephone line for families to call)
  • Methods for patient reception, intake, and tracking of unaccompanied minors
  • Providing an Intake Area for parents/guardians
  • Making available a verification team or other method for definitive identification of a child and matching the child with their family/guardian
  • Establishing a Pediatric Safe Area or child care (for children who are unaccompanied and lack acute medical needs)
  • Organizing a Family Reception Site (for families who are waiting for news) and/or discharge lounge
  • Arranging for private areas for consultations, reunifications, or bereavement counseling
  • Offering staff education and training on reunification procedures
  • Consideration of recovery and de-escalation approaches

Advanced planning through optimization of protocols within the hospital’s disaster plan, and development of reference cards or knowledge reinforcement tools may help support staff and improve outcomes for children.

All four DRC intervention bundle guides are based on information and recommended strategies within the Checklist of Essential Pediatric Domains and Considerations for Every Hospitals Disaster Policies (also known as “The Disaster Checklist”). Pediatric Patient Tracking and Family Reunification, domain 6, includes recommended activities at foundational, intermediate, and advanced levels and can be viewed on pages 14–16. As you use The Disaster Checklist to develop and/or enhance your evacuation plan, below are key considerations.

As DRC teams review and enhance sections of their hospital’s disaster plan specific to reunification, below are key considerations to keep in mind.

Key Considerations

  • The ability to quickly initiate the hospital’s process to track and care for an unaccompanied child and reunify each child with their family/guardian.
  • Plan ahead for where various areas/rooms that comprise the Hospital Family Reunification Center will be located and what supplies will be needed.
  • Clarification of a leadership chain of command and organizational structure with specific attention to the incorporation of family reunification into existing emergency operations plans and responses, including the Hospital Incident Command System.
  • Families looking for their children will contact or arrive at a children’s (or any) hospital. A staff 800 telephone number, identified webpage, or managed social media platform with details on what families should do helps encourage families to remain aware instead of arriving at an incorrect location, only to need to be redirected.
  • Create a triage or patient intake form and a Family Reunification Center check-in form that can be used to compare information compiled on unaccompanied children and parents/guardians to aid in reunification when other means of verification are unavailable.
  • Offer to serve as a resource for other hospitals to augment their plans.

Tabletop Exercises and Drills

The DRC teams will be offered an opportunity to review/test their disaster plans during a 3-hour virtual tabletop exercise (VTTX) in 2025. An After-action report completed by exercise participants will help identify gaps and steps for improvement that the facility can consider and follow up on. The gaps and process measures can be tested in two follow-up drills to be conducted in 2026. See the VTTX Checklist and the DRC Tabletop Exercises and Drills webpage.

Quality Improvement and Intervention Strategies

Global AIM

Support children’s hospitals to develop robust plans for pediatric disaster response to events that require pediatric patient tracking and family reunification at each facility. 

AIM Statement

By June 2026, 50% of children’s hospitals in the DRC choosing to focus on pediatric patient tracking and family reunification will have evaluated one or more strategies to improve performance on at least one of the following process measures:

Quality Measures

Select one or more measures from the list below to test and improve on in the two drills (details to follow in 2025):

  • Percentage of unaccompanied children presenting to the Emergency Department who are identified/tracked using a hospital reunification process.
    • Intervention Strategies:
      • Create a patient triage or child identification form for unaccompanied children presenting to the ED.
      • Create an intake form for parents/guardians arriving at the ED in search of an unaccompanied minor that includes details to be matched with information in the child identification form.
      • Establish a clear reunification process for unaccompanied minors arriving at the ED and train staff on its content, use, and importance.
      • Create a mechanism to track unaccompanied minors from arrival to ED through reunification with their caregiver.
  • Percentage of unaccompanied children who have a completed child identification form to facilitate reunification.
    • Intervention Strategies:
      • Develop a process for tracking the identification and number of children with completed triage/intake/registration form and their location in real-time.
      • Create a child identification form or patient triage form for unaccompanied minors presenting to the ED.
      • Create an intake form for parents/caregivers arriving at the ED in search of an unaccompanied minor that includes details to be matched with information in the child identification form.
  • Percentage of unaccompanied children reunited with the legal guardian.|NOTE: Determine a time frame for the above that seems feasible related to a particular scenario (e.g., 6 hours, 24 hours, other?)
    • Intervention Strategies:
      • Establish a clear process for reunification of an unaccompanied child and their caregiver, including a mechanism to ensure accuracy and completion.
      • Create a mechanism to track all unaccompanied minors from arrival at the emergency department through reunification with their caregivers.

If you have identified other objectives or measures because of an exercise after-action report or state/organizational requirements (CMS, Joint Commission, ACS Trauma Level 1, etc.), you can use those.

Resources

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