Table 1.

Potential Functions of a Children’s Hospital Response Network

Potential Functions	Addressed by the Virtual Forum
• Development of consistent standards (eg, standard operating procedures)	No
• Sharing of best practices	Yes
• Policy development	No
• Emergency communications	No
• Media relations	Yes
• Isolation unit development	Yes
• Pre-positioning of scarce resources	No
• Cost-sharing across the network (eg, purchasing agreements, bulk purchasing)	No
• Interface with existing networks (eg, LRN, surveillance systems, HHS treatment centers)	No
• Regional coalition building and strengthening	Yes
• Financial planning for cost of evaluation and management of patient(s)	No
• Networking of hospital administrators, clinicians, emergency managers	Yes