Prepared is Protected

8/4/2019 Prepared is Protected

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Prepared is Protectedis a high-impact service strategy in

which the mayor’s office mobilizes

knowledgeable volunteers to

bolster disaster awareness and

preparedness of households in their

communities.

p r e p a r e d n e s s& s a f e t y

PREPARED ISPROTECTEDPREPARED ISPROTECTED

a s e rv i c e b l u e p r i n t I M P A C T A R E A :

S e rv i c e a s a S t ra t e gy :



M P A C T A R E A : P r e p a r e d n e s s & S A F E T Y



I M P A C T A R E A : P r e p a r e d n e s s & S A F

Every year, natural disasters take a stunning toll on human lie and property. Inthe United States, natural disasters afect close to one million people each year,and cause hundreds o deaths and an average o $18 billion in damages – a gurethat’s increasing every year.1 As most deaths associated with natural events arepreventable,2 many mayors work to minimize the damage caused by natural

disasters by developing comprehensive emergency preparation and responseplans, and ensuring that citizens are well-inormed to respond appropriately. Even with these eforts, many households still lack disaster preparedness plans andemergency supplies, and/or are unamiliar with their communities’ emergency response plans. By deploying volunteers to conduct presentations, engage inpreparedness discussions, and disseminate plans and toolkits, the mayor’s ocecan bridge this critical inormation gap and help citizens protect themselves inthe ace o disaster.

1. http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/statistics/?cid=185

2“Overviewofdeathsassociatedwithnaturalevents,UnitedStates,1974-2004,”DivisionofHealthStudies,AgencyforToxicSubstancesandDiseaseRegistry,2008.

Building on existing city eforts, theinitiative employs a two-tiered trainingstructure to ampliy outreach. To start,the Oce o Emergency Managementor a similar city agency amiliarizeslead volunteers with the city’s disasterpreparedness plans and toolkits, andtrains these volunteers how to presentthe materials to public audiences. ese

lead volunteers then work with outreachvolunteers to help broadly disseminate theplans and toolkits by training the outreachvolunteers how to engage local householdsin disaster preparedness discussions.

is orce multiplication strategy – o volunteers training other volunteersto engage households across the city – is a powerul strategy or primingcommunities in disaster response.

Prepared is Protected

is a h igh - impact serv ice

strategy in wh ich

the mayor’s of f ice

mobi l i zes knowledgeable

vo lunteers to bo lster

d isaster awareness

and preparedness o f

househo lds in the i r

communi t ies .

BACKGROUNDBACKGROUND

PREPARED IS PROTECTEDPREPARED IS PROTECTED




REQUIRED ELEMENTSREQUIRED ELEMENTS

1Mayor’s oce works with the city’s emergency managementagencies, rst responders and disaster-ocused non-prot

organizations to develop citizen-oriented disaster preparednessplans and toolkits.

2e Oce o Emergency Management – or similar city agency – trains lead volunteers on the disaster preparedness plans and

toolkits, as well as how to present them to larger audiences.

3Lead volunteers train and organize outreach volunteers todisseminate the plans and toolkits as well as how to engage

households in discussions on disaster preparedness and response.

5Mayor’s oce works with partners to track and report theimpact o the initiative. Required metrics include:

a. Number o lead volunteersb. Number o outreach volunteers trained in emergency

preparednessc. Number o households and individuals engaged by

volunteers to discuss preparedness (e.g., walkingthrough the emergency preparedness materials)31

Optional metrics include the number o households that sign upor emergency alerts (as applicable).

3 Individuals counted should include those who attend presentations/discussions led by lead volunteers, as well as those who are reached by outreach volunteers through door-to-

door canvassing or inormation tabling (see the “Executing Prepared is Protected” sectionor additional context).

4Outreach volunteers canvass neighborhoods and engage indi-vidual households in conversation on how to prepare or and

respond to a disaster, should one occur.




e mayor’s oce works with the Oce o Emergency Management and otheremergency management agencies to develop a citizen-riendly guide to the city’semergency plan. is document should set out the most likely disaster scenarios

within the jurisdiction, identiy rst responders and their roles, describe theemergency inormation system, and explain evacuation and shelter procedures.In addition, a set o simple community maps and lists o key telephone numbers,

websites, radio stations and inormation resources should be included. (See theResources section or more inormation.)

To supplement the guide, the mayor’s oce enlists local rst responders or leadingvolunteer organizations ocused on disaster preparedness to develop a householdtoolkit. e toolkit is a short document outlining the provisions and materials aamily should always have on hand in case o disaster or emergency. is documentcan be adapted rom existing toolkits that are available rom other cities or theederal government. (See the Resources section or more inormation.)

Once the emergency preparedness materials have been developed, the mayor’soce solicits input rom local community groups, volunteer organizations,or rst responders to customize the materials to specic neighborhoods. Forexample, these partners can help identiy the locations o local shelters and otherneighborhood-specic resources, so that the inormation can be included in thedistributed materials. In addition, these partners can help develop an outreach planthat identies targeted areas (e.g., impoverished communities with little access to

inormation or language barriers) and outlines a strategy or deploying volunteersto reach audiences in these locations.

e mayor’s oce enlists local partners to recruit and manage volunteers. Two tierso volunteers will be needed: lead volunteers, who must have prior experience withdisaster training or response, such as having completed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) or Red Cross programs, and outreach volunteers or

whom no prior experience is necessary.

Developing emergency prepareDness materials

creating a local outreach strategy

engaging volunteers

EXECUTING PREPARED IS

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EXECUTING PREPARED IS

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1. Preparing lead volunteers. e lead volunteers will complete a hal-day (e.g.,three hours) in-depth training rom the Oce o Emergency Management,or another lead emergency management agency appointed by the mayor, on

the content o the emergency preparedness materials, as well as how to presentthem to an audience and answer questions that might arise. Due to their priorexperience in disaster training or response, these volunteers should be well-equipped to discuss unsettling scenarios in a calm and condent manner. Asa condition o their participation, lead volunteers will commit to conductinga minimum number o 45-minute ormal presentations4 to large groups eachyear (as an example, some cities eel that a minium o our per year is a easibletarget).

2. Training outreach volunteers. In addition to conducting presentations, leadvolunteers are expected to train and manage outreach volunteers who have notcompleted CERT or similar training beore. To that end, lead volunteers willcoordinate with partner organizations to set up training sessions with teams o outreach volunteers across the city. At these 1.5-2 hour sessions, lead volunteersacilitate a discussion on the emergency resources available in the community,the specic content o the emergency preparedness materials, as well as the key messages to communicate to households as outreach volunteers disseminate thematerials provided. Having already received in-depth training and conducted

ormal presentations, lead volunteers will share insights rom their experiencesto personalize the conversation.

3. Inorming and preparing the public. Upon completion o the training, outreachvolunteers will canvass neighborhoods to engage in conversations with individualhouseholds about emergency preparedness. ey will provide each household

with a copy o the citizen’s emergency guide and toolkit, and discuss what stepsto take in the event o an emergency and how to use the toolkit. ey alsocan ofer to help households create disaster plans and/or prepare emergency

supplies.

4 30 minutes o presentation, 15 minutes allotted or Q&A

(engaging volunteers continueD)




While Prepared is Protected is a low-cost initiative, the program will incurexpenses related to printing emergency preparedness materials and transportingvolunteers to training sessions, presentations, and neighborhood canvassingactivities. In some cities, in-kind resources can be secured – or example, printingcompanies in the community may print emergency preparedness materials reeo charge or partner organizations may provide vehicles to transport volunteers.I additional support is needed, grants rom ederal and state agencies or privateoundations may be available. I seeking philanthropic or governmental grant

unding, the mayor’s oce or non-prot partners may develop a short proposalthat describes the opportunity or support and how the unds will be used.Elements o a typical proposal should include:

• Description o Prepared is Protected• How this initiative will positively impact the city and mitigate the worst

outcomes imposed by a disaster

measuring impact

securing resources

Collecting data on the impact o Prepared is Protected is essential ordemonstrating results. e ollowing outcome metrics must be collected:

• Number o lead volunteers• Number o outreach volunteers trained in emergency preparedness• Number o households and individuals engaged by volunteers

to discuss preparedness (e.g., walking through the emergency preparedness materials)1

Optional metrics include the number o households that sign up or emergency alerts (as applicable).

To measure the number o households and individuals that are engaged indiscussions on emergency preparedness, creating a tracking system is key. emayor’s oce or a designated local partner should create a basic system thatallows outreach volunteers to report back on the number o households andindividuals they engage – perhaps via monthly email outreach rom the leadpartner (e.g., using an online survey) or through a pledge commitment madeby the outreach volunteer during his or her initial training.

5 Individuals counted should include those who attend presentations/discussions led by lead volunteers,

as well as those who are reached by outreach volunteers through door-to-door canvassing or inormationtabling.

5



OPTIONAL ELEMENTS


• e amount o unding requested, proposed breakdown o grant(s) and how thoseunds will be used, which is dependent on number o partners and respectiveroles o each partner

• e metrics that will be collected to assess progress• Inormation on Cities o Service (this is especially helpul or national organizations)

• Recognition plan or the donor (this could include logos on t-shirts i your city iscreating them, branding on your service website i you have one, etc.)

recognizing anD thanking volunteers

encourage pre-affiliation anD training

conDuct school-baseD outreach

Volunteer recognition is an efective recruitment and retention tool. Oncevolunteers have completed a presentation or neighborhood canvassing,ollowing up with them is encouraged. For instance, consider sendingvolunteers a thank you letter with the details o their involvement (e.g., whenand where they completed the presentation/canvassing, estimate o number o people reached). Sending wallet-size emergency preparation cards or t-shirts

with basic emergency preparation procedures may also be considered as agesture o gratitude.

Citizens that want to become more involved can receive training to becomea member o their local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).CERTs are volunteer-driven local teams. e 20-hour training is provided reeo charge by a local rst responder organization such as the re departmentor Oce o Emergency Management. Volunteers can also receive training inNIMS (National Incident Management System) and ICS (Incident CommandSystem). Established Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs),such as the United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army and others also acceptvolunteers and encourage their volunteers to be “pre-aliated” by receiving

training specic to that organization. In the event o an emergency, pre-aliated volunteers would know where to go and what to do. Spontaneousvolunteers are managed by an organization designated to serve that role, suchas a local HandsOn Network aliate.

Lead volunteers can visit middle and high schools to conduct assemblies toraise awareness about emergency preparedness. In turn, students then engage

OPTIONAL ELEMENTSOPTIONAL ELEMENTS




leverage emergency prepareDness month

reaDy new y ork

their amilies in developing emergency response plans. Teachers can alsodevelop lesson plans to encourage amilies to develop their emergency plansand prepare their emergency kit.

September is Emergency Preparedness Month, making it a prime opportunity

to conduct public service announcements, awareness events, and drills andto recognize volunteers. Corporate sponsors could contribute unds toprepare starter “Go Bags”–kits that provide households with everythingthey may need in the event o an evacuation–distributed in connection

with Emergency Preparedness Month events.

Volunteers can revisit households with a ocus on particular preparationsor regular seasonal risks, such as hurricanes, tornados, heat waves, or winterstorms. e mayor’s oce can also use signicant dates, such as the start o hurricane season or the anniversary o a local disaster, to remind people o how to prepare or and respond to an emergency.

PREPARED IS PROTECTEDIN ACTION

PREPARED IS PROTECTEDIN ACTION

rough a collaboration o the New York City Oce o Emergency Management, NYC Service, the oce tasked with implementingMayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s high-impact service plan, and New

York Cares, the city’s local HandsOn aliate, the Ready New York program aims to enhance New Yorkers’ preparedness or all types o emergencies. e program helps households develop disaster plans, gatheremergency supplies, and stay inormed through emergency alerts. e1,400 volunteers participating in the program are heavily relied upon todeliver these messages. ose with prior training (e.g., CERT) completea three-hour training and conduct ormal presentations on emergency preparedness or groups such as tenants association or residents at seniorcitizens homes. ose without experience participate in a 2-hour discus-sion with experienced volunteers on what resources are available, as wellas what key messages to convey to households. ey are then dispatchedto canvas neighborhoods door-to-door and attend community meetings.

refresh the message by tailoring outreach to

seasonal risks



M P A C T A R E A : N e i g h b o r h o o d r e v i t a l i z a t i o nM P A C T A R E A : P r e p a r e d n e s s & S A F E T Y

To measure the impact o its eforts, Ready New York conducts community surveys gauging the extent to which people are prepared or emergencies.

BelowaresomekeylessonslearnedfromReadyNewYork’sprogramimplementation:

• Select a lead partner (e.g., the local HandsOn aliate) with sucientcapacity to recruit and manage a large cadre o volunteers.

• Ensure volunteer eforts t within the context o the community’s existingemergency management inrastructure.

• Do not reinvent the wheel; leverage existing emergency preparednessmaterials and toolkits where possible, and customize them appropriately.

• Tailor your outreach strategy to the local context; some areas are more proneto certain types o disasters, and the target audience and messages shouldvary accordingly.

sacramento reaDy

Sacramento Ready is a regional partnership o local governments workingto provide emergency preparation and response training and inormationto people in the Metropolitan Sacramento Area. rough a partnership o

the Sacramento Mayor’s oce, Volunteer Sacramento, the oce tasked withimplementing Mayor Kevin Johnson’s high-impact service plan, the Oce o Emergency Services, and the Capital Region Chapter o the American RedCross, Sacramento Ready uses a sustained preparedness campaign to train andmobilize volunteers with particular emphasis on special needs populations (e.g.,populations whose members may have additional needs beore, during, andater an incident in unctional areas). Volunteers are recruited to receive CERTand other emergency responder training and are assigned to a pre-aliatedvoluntary organization active in disaster. Over 1,000 new individual volunteers

have been recruited and trained in emergency preparedness and helped to passalong training to over 6,000 residents in their community. (See the Resourcessection or more inormation.)

(prepareD is protecteD in action continueD)



emergency prepareDness materials: city plans,

householD toolkits anD more


RESOURCESRESOURCES

ˏ e “NYC Hazards” page reviews all potential local hazardsand discusses how New Yorkers can prepare or and respondto each type: http://on.nyc.gov/b8XxSt

ˏ Examples o a household toolkit: An “emergency supply kit” helps households identiy and stock materials that

support survival at home or at least three days, while a“Go Bag”provides households everything they may needin the event o an evacuation. Inormation on both kits isavailable at: http://on.nyc.gov/9Ag1w7

ˏ Example o a citizen-riendly guide to city emergencies:“Ready New York: Preparing or Emergencies in New York City” draws on expertise rom dozens o city agencies tocreate a succinct and comprehensive guide to emergency preparedness, available at: http://on.nyc.gov/qXMCA

ˏ City evacuation plans and detailed recommendations onhow citizens respond to emergencies such as hurricanes arealso detailed in the city’s “Ready New York Coastal Storm”presentation. http://bit.ly/mZjCQx

• e City o Sacramento, CA has developed and adopted a number o user-riendly toolkits and guides as a part o their public saety initiativeSacramento Ready. Key materials similar to those mentioned in thisblueprint include:

ˏ Example o a household toolkit: An “Emergency Toolkit”listing the items a household should have on hand in caseo an emergency: http://bit.ly/olDNLo

ˏ Example o a citizen-riendly guide to city emergencies:“Are you Prepared? A Guide to Emergency Preparednessin Sacramento County:” http://bit.ly/pLb6pJ

• New York City, through Ready New York, uses a website to shareimportant inormation on disaster and emergency preparedness.http://on.nyc.gov/bIy0HT




ˏ Online citizen-riendly guide or city emergencies:Sacramentoready.org contains city evacuation andemergency operations plans along with other key documents. http://www.sacramentoready.org/deault.htm

ˏ Additional tools and materials to help Sacramento

households prepare or emergencies (e.g., communicationplans, keeping pets sae) can be ound at: http://bit.ly/pA1Di

• e Ready America Campaign (http://1.usa.gov/Ih7pJ) is a national

public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate andempower Americans to prepare or and respond to emergencies includingnatural and man-made disasters. e goal o the campaign is to get thepublic involved and ultimately to increase the level o basic preparedness

across the nation, by asking individuals to do three key things: (1) getan emergency supply kit, (2) make a amily emergency plan, and (3)be inormed about the diferent types o emergencies that could occurand their appropriate responses. It is available in English and Spanish.Ready.gov has a sample preparedness kit checklist that can be used as-is oradapted to local circumstances, as well as many other resource materials:http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html

• HandsOn Network (HON) created HandsOn Disasters, a platorm that

highlights how HandsOn Action Centers and other volunteer connectororganizations have become critical players in the eld o emergency management, including serving as the designated lead agencies or disastervolunteer coordination in many local communities and states. HON haspublished Ready to Respond, an inormation and guidance resource tobetter prepare communities or emergencies and or the convergence o spontaneous volunteers. For more inormation, visit:http://bit.ly/nzBHZJ

• National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster is a coalition o non-prot organizations that respond to disasters as part o their overallmission. e NVOAD orum is where organizations share knowledgeand resources throughout the disaster cycle—preparation, response andrecovery—to help disaster survivors and their communities. NVOADofers many resources or disaster planning. For more inormation, visit:

www.nvoad.org




training

• e American Red Cross has prepared inormation sheets oferingguidance on preparing or and coping with multiple types o disasters andemergencies. Visit: http://rdcrss.org/RGrQo

• e Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness which can beound at: http://www.ema.gov/areyouready/

• e Department o Homeland Security ofers “30 Tips or Emergency Preparedness.” Visit: http://1.usa.gov/vgmrc and http://www.dhs.gov

• e Federal Alliance or Sae Homes ofers inormation on how to prepareor various types o disasters and enables users to determine severe weather

risks or their own states. Visit: www.ash.org

• Volunteer Florida (http://bit.ly/qZjT6v ), the Governor’s Commission onVolunteerism & Community Service, provides inormation to help amiliesprepare a disaster plan, develop a hurricane kit, nd out how to get trainedas a rst responder, and prepare their home. For more inormation on how to develop a disaster plan, visit: http://www.oridadisaster.org/

• e Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educatesvolunteers about disaster preparedness through 20-hour ree coursesofered nationwide rom a local rst responder organization. CERTmembers are trained to assist others in their neighborhood or workplaceollowing an event when proessional responders are not immediately available to help and are encouraged to support emergency preparednessin their community. Visit: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/

• For more in-depth and higher-level training, FEMA ofers ree onlinetraining on their ICS (Incident Command System) and NIMS (NationalIncident Management System) systems. Visit: http://training.ema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

o Incident Command System (ICS): http://1.usa.gov/cYnu9 o National Incident Management System (NIMS): http://www.ema.gov/emergency/nims/




• Citizen Corps coordinates volunteer activities or disaster preparednessand response. It was created in January 2002 and is aliated with theDepartment o Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management

Agency. Its mission is carried out through the activities o CitizenCorps Councils, which build on community strengths to implementthe Citizen Corps preparedness programs and carry out a local strategy to involve government, community leaders, and citizens in all-hazardspreparedness and resilience. For more inormation, visit: http://www.citizencorps.gov/ and http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/

• Volunteer Sacramento is encouraging emergency response organizationsat a regional level to meet regularly to establish cross-county networks,

partnering with multiple volunteer Community Emergency ResponseTeams (CERTs) and city agencies covering various jurisdictions. Visit:http://www.volunteersac.com/

• HandsOn Nashville, an aliate o the national HandsOn Network, hadestablished an emergency management Memorandum o Understanding

with Nashville’s Oce o Emergency Management beore the historic2010 oods devastated the city. With this MOU in place, the rolesand responsibilities o partners managing the volunteer response to the

ood was smooth and ecient, and can be a model or other citiesseeking to prepare or disaster response. For more inormation, visit:http://www.hon.org/AboutUs/index.php/AboutUs.html

• FEMA ofers resources providing an overview o disaster responsecoordination and volunteer management:

o Role o a FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison: http://bit.ly/powSnm o National Response Framework (NRF): http://www.ema.

gov/emergency/nr/

coorDination




SPECIAL THANKSSPECIAL THANKS

We’dliketothankthefollowingcitiesfortheirsupport:

• City o Sacramento, Caliornia and Volunteer Sacramento ortheir technical expertise and support materials.

• City o New York, New York or their valuable lessonslearned and expertise.



Service as a Strategy 2 Canal Park Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141617-252-2703

Service as a Strategy is a partnership between ServiceNation and Cities o

Service, which equips mayors with high-impact service strategies to addresspressing local challenges, unded with generous support rom BloombergPhilanthropies.

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