Helping HRSA Build Pediatric Emergency & Disaster Readiness

June 09, 2025

Many hospitals struggle to serve the 30 million children in the United States who need emergency services each year. Children are dying as a result. More than 25% of deaths among children receiving emergency care in the United States could be prevented if emergency departments (EDs) met standards of pediatric readiness. 

High pediatric readiness scores in EDs significantly reduce mortality rates in critically ill and injured children by up to 76% and 60%, respectively. With HRSA’s support, the Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN) helps save children’s lives by enhancing hospital pediatric readiness and disaster preparedness. 

Families, especially in rural areas, often must seek emergency care for their children in community hospital EDs that primarily serve adults. These EDs tend to have limited pediatric readiness, pediatric supplies, and staff prepared to care for children, heightening the risk for young patients. 

If hospitals struggle with routine emergency care, imagine what could happen when a natural disaster or other public health emergency happens in a community.

This work isn’t merely theoretical. During the 2024 shooting at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade, Children's Mercy Hospital, a PPN participating hospital, established emergency response protocols to enable a rapid and coordinated response. The hospital’s existing relationships with local emergency services and trauma centers, catalyzed through PPN, ensured that injured children received timely, high-quality care.

With Altarum’s help, HRSA supports and partners with the PPN to foster collaboration among children’s hospitals and their communities, enabling consistent high-quality care during public health emergencies. 

What is a PPN?

The PPN consists of pediatric care experts focused on providing high quality care to children and families during emergencies and disasters. By utilizing existing resources and developing new ones, the PPN enables all children’s hospitals in the network to be prepared and respond quickly. 

The PPN facilitates drills and simulation exercises to build clinician confidence and maintain critical pediatric care competencies. Many prehospital EMS clinicians in the United States respond to fewer than 100 pediatric calls annually; PPN training can help them develop and maintain essential skills. 

In late 2023, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) selected Altarum to lead the strategic support services for HRSA in supporting the PPN.

PPN’s Challenge: Expand its Reach

The PPN enhances readiness by ensuring that every prehospital and hospital service has the necessary pediatric-specific champions, competencies, policies, equipment, and resources to deliver high-quality emergency care. The PPN builds the necessary infrastructure by fostering collaboration among hospitals and their communities to prepare for emergencies. It also provides real-time dissemination of evidence-informed pediatric care to communities affected by disasters. 

To achieve the goal of having a children’s hospital within each of HRSA’s regions, the PPN had to expand its reach beyond its initial 10 hospitals. It did this by including four affiliate sites for a total of 14 children’s hospitals.

Altarum’s Impact

To support HRSA and the PPN in accomplishing its goals, Altarum provided—and continues to provide:

• Enhanced collaboration and communication: By providing administrative and logistical support, we facilitate better communication and collaboration among the PPN and HRSA. This promotes shared learning from each other and focuses on effective implementation of best practices.
• Strategic planning: Altarum supported the PPN to develop a clear roadmap for a focused and sustainable approach to pediatric preparedness and response.
• Comprehensive assessments: Altarum’s evaluations gave HRSA a detailed understanding of the Network's strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• Product and publication development: Altarum created materials that elevated the Network's activities and shared valuable insights and best practices with a broader audience.

Altarum also fosters knowledge-sharing and partnership with other EMS agencies through structured events and conferences; develops and identifies core resources to strengthen pediatric readiness; and provides hands-on technical support through site visits. 

Our work directly targets the drivers of hospital pediatric readiness—a hospital’s awareness, sufficient implementation supports, familiarity with pediatric populations, and community engagement.

"Disaster preparedness isn’t just about response—it’s about building a system that’s ready before the crisis hits. With our deep subject matter expertise and strategic planning capabilities, we’re helping HRSA develop a sustainable network that can protect children in any type of emergency,” says Caley Small, Project Manager, Community Health at Altarum. “Our assessments and planning efforts help optimize resources, ensuring pediatric emergency care is effective and coordinated regardless of the situation."