Being prepared for a disaster is often the key to surviving one. This page links to publications and other resources that help citizens and communities prepare for catastrophic events such as acts of terrorism, industrial accidents, and natural disasters. The information provided below can help citizens respond appropriately during a disaster, no matter where they happen to be when it occurs.

• Preparing Citizens—
  
  • at Home
    
  • at Work
    
  • at School

• Preparing Communities—
  
  • at the Local Level
    
  • at the State Level

• Publications

In Case of Emergency—ICE
East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust, April 20, 2005
The personal safety campaign known as ICE originated in the United Kingdom and urges the public to store a special emergency contact number in their cell phones “in case of emergency.” This simple action may assist first responders in quickly locating a responsible person to make decisions for anyone rendered unable to so during an emergency.

Internal Revenue Service Tax Relief in Disaster Situations
This IRS web site explains special tax law provisions that may help taxpayers recover financially from the impact of a disaster, especially when the President declares their location to be a major disaster area.

Looks Too Good To Be True.Com
A federal law enforcement and industry task force developed this site to inform private citizens of the nexus between fraud and terrorism financing and to help them avoid being victimized by international criminal schemes that target them for Internet scams. The site is funded by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Other key partners include the National White Collar Crime Center, Monster.com, Target, and members of the Merchants Risk Council.

National Preparedness Month: September 2005
Cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the American Red Cross, National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and schools. More information is available online.

National Terror Alert Resource and Information Center
Geared to the needs of the general public, this web site provides free online homeland security resource guides with step-by-step instructions that demonstrate how to safeguard families before, after, and during a terrorist attack.

Ready.gov
Ready.gov is the Department of Homeland Security's public web site on emergency preparedness. It explains how to assemble emergency supplies and create a family communication plan and recommends actions for a variety of terrorist-related emergency situations.

Through a Child's Eyes: September 11, 2001
Produced by Home Box Office (HBO) in consultation with the New York University Child Study Center, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media, this film weaves live-action footage of young people with musical interludes. Kids of diverse backgrounds share their thoughts on the September 11 tragedy and provide surprising words of wisdom and insight. The special also points viewers to web-based resources and features a toll-free number that offers information for adults who want their children to move forward in healthy ways during troubled times. Consult the HBO Schedule for air dates.

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Preparing Citizens at Work

2004 Emergency Response Guidebook
U.S. Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico, 2004
The Emergency Response Guidebook was developed for firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving a hazardous material. It offers first responders information to quickly identify the specific or generic classification of the material(s) involved and protect themselves and the public during the initial response phase of the incident.

Disaster Preparedness and Response, Conservation OnLine (CoOL)
The publications presented here serve to inform readers on how to prepare for and plan against the destruction of books, photographs, and other small public or personal items by fire, flood, mold, and other natural or manmade disasters. Developed by the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries, CoOL covers a wide spectrum of topics of interest to those involved with the conservation of library, museum, and archives materials.

Every Business Should Have a Plan
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2004
This brochure outlines the new Ready Business initiative, including measures that business owners and managers can take to better prepare for an emergency.

Homeland Security: Fire and Explosion Planning Matrix
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA has developed this matrix to provide employers with guidelines and online resources that may help reduce their vulnerability to or mitigate the results of a terrorist's explosive device or act of arson.

National Preparedness Month: September 2005
Cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the American Red Cross, National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and schools. More information is available online.

Listo Negocios
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Advertising Council, Listo Negocios assists Spanish-speaking owners and managers of small- to medium-size businesses in preparing their employees, operations, and assets for an emergency.

Ready Business
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, this web site provides business owners and managers with tools to promote business continuity during a disaster.

Virginia Business Emergency Survival Toolkit
The Virginia Department of Emergency Management developed this web site to help businesses prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

Virtual Disaster Planning Portal for Libraries
In memory of the librarians killed or injured on September 11, 2001, the Special Libraries Association has created this web portal highlighting resources on disaster planning for libraries.

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Preparing Citizens at School

Charlestown School to Offer Student Emergency Preparedness Program
Federal Emergency Management Agency, April 18, 2008
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is initiating a pilot program to teach basic emergency preparedness skills to New England fourth-grade students. The Student Tools for Emergency Planning Program, a joint effort between state emergency management agencies and FEMA, teaches students to encourage their families to make home emergency kits and develop communications plans.

Disaster Discovery
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
This entertaining and educational web-based board game has been prepared by FEMA to educate kids about what to do during emergencies. It also includes instructions for offline play.

Fact Sheet: Creating a Culture of Preparedness Among Schools
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, October 30, 2007
This fact sheet explains several planning and training resources that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers to help local schools prepare comprehensive all-hazard emergency preparedness plans, developed in partnership with community leaders and first responders.

International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)
IACLEA advances public safety for educational institutions by providing educational resources, advocacy, and professional development. More than 1,000 colleges and universities in 20 countries are members of IACLEA.

Lead & Manage My School: Emergency Planning
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
This web site provides school leaders with information necessary for developing emergency response plans for natural disasters, violent incidents, and terrorist acts. It includes sections on crisis planning and promising practices of emergency response in schools.

National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (NASSLEO)
NASSLEO, the oldest school safety organization in the United States, is a nonprofit association of law enforcement and security administrators, professionals, and experts dedicated to the safety of students, faculty, and institutional property. NASSLEO is a leading authority on issues involving school-based crime and violence. By offering conferences and training symposiums, NASSLEO keeps its members apprized of cutting-edge developments in the security, safety, and law enforcement fields.

National Preparedness Month: September 2005
Cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the American Red Cross, National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and schools. More information is available online.

National School Safety Center (NSSC)
NSSC serves as an advocate for safe, secure, and peaceful schools worldwide. As a catalyst for the prevention of school crime and violence, NSSC provides school communities and their school safety partners with quality information, resources, and consultation and training services. NSSC identifies and promotes strategies, promising practices, and programs that support safe schools for all students as part of the total academic mission.

Ready Kids
Ready Kids is a tool to help parents and teachers educate children from ages 8 to 12 about emergencies and how they can help their families prepare for them. Ready Kids includes a family-friendly web site and in-school materials.

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Preparing Communities at the Local Level

9/11 Public Discourse Project
The 10 members of the 9/11 Commission, formerly the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, have initiated a nationwide campaign to educate the public on terrorism and on what can be done to make the country safer. This new organization, intended to remain in effect for 1 year, consists of the same leadership as the 9/11 Commission, including its commissioners, who now serve as the Board of Directors of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, a 501(c) (3) organization.

American Red Cross
The American Red Cross provides localized relief for victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The web site offers guidelines and resource materials for dealing with terrorism and unexpected events.

Citizen Corps
Citizen Corps, a component of USA Freedom Corps, was created to help coordinate volunteer activities that make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to emergency situations.

Citizens' Emergency Response Guide
This guide is intended to help you make safe and informed decisions when a natural disaster or terrorist attack occurs. During and after a catastrophic event, it may take days for emergency help to arrive. For that reason, this site has information to help you prepare, well in advance, to protect yourself, your family, and your community.

Community Capacity Development Office
The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) develops, evaluates, and implements policies that serve as models for other national community capacity development efforts and provides counseling for local, state, and federal government agencies and private sector clients on a variety of justice-related community issues. CCDO also works with bureaus and program offices in the Office of Justice Programs to ensure that the special needs and programs of American Indian and Alaska Native communities are incorporated in products and services.

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
CERT promotes both improved emergency response and partnerships between emergency services and the communities they serve by enlisting emergency responders to train community members in basic response skills.

Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association
The Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association (CCROA) believes that local business must play an important role in community preparedness and response. In addition to the civic responsibility and Good Samaritan contributions that underpin private sector contributions to preparedness and response, local commercial vitality after a crisis is determined in part by the same forces and consequences that affect a community's recovery after a crisis. CCROA encourages collaboration between municipalities and their local employers to establish a new standard of participation and remove barriers to private-sector involvement in crisis preparedness and response—all of which could augment the local community capability.

Disaster Help.gov
This web site is a product of The Disaster Management e-Government Initiative, a cross-agency effort to provide information and services related to the four pillars of disaster management: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

Emergency Alert System (EAS)
EAS replaced the Emergency Broadcast System in 1994 as a tool to warn the public about emergency situations. On this web site, the Federal Communications Commission offers EAS handbooks, rules, and other current items of interest.

The Emergency Email and Wireless Network
This free public service notifies citizens of local, regional, national, and international emergencies through the Internet and e-mail in a secure and expedient manner.

Emergency Management: Status of School Districts' Planning and Preparedness (PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office, May 17, 2007
This testimony discusses preliminary findings of the Government Accountability Office's review of emergency management in schools, including the roles of state and federal governments in establishing requirements and providing resources for emergency management planning; what school districts have done to plan and prepare for emergencies; and the challenges school districts face in planning for emergencies, taking into account communications and coordination with first responders, parents, and students.

Emergency Preparedness for Children with Special Health Care Needs
American Academy of Pediatrics, 2003
This web site provides emergency medical forms developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) for summarizing critical information about children with special health-care needs. These are intended for completion by a pediatrician.

Exiting Metro in An Emergency
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), August 2003
WMATA created this interactive guide to ensure the safety of passengers using its metrorail transit system. It provides specific steps for passengers to take in the case of an emergency, such as the August 2003 power outage that affected the northeastern United States.

FEMA and American Radio Relay League Partner in Preparedness Through Citizen Corps
Federal Emergency Management Agency, June 2003
The partnership among FEMA, the American Radio Relay League, and Citizen Corps aims to raise awareness about the use of amateur radio as a public safety resource, provide training and accreditation for amateur radio emergency communications, and assist Citizen Corps Councils with public education, training, and volunteer service opportunities that support first responders, disaster relief organizations, and community safety efforts.

Fire Corps
Fire Corps was created to help fire departments use citizen advocates. It works in partnership with the International Association of Fire Chiefs', the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and the USA Freedom Corps. Fire Corps provides individuals with opportunities to support their local fire departments and enhance fire department operations.

HVAC Building Vulnerability Assessment Tool (PDF)
Rhode Island Department of Health, November 2004
Rhode Island created this Building Vulnerability Assessment Tool to help building owners and managers identify air-handling system vulnerabilities to biological terrorism agents. The tool provides a comprehensive checklist to guide the evaluation of air handling systems. Although the tool was created for buildings in Rhode Island, it could perhaps be applied elsewhere.

IACP Info
International Association of Chiefs of Police
This free biweekly e-mail newsletter is sent automatically to all International Association of Chiefs of Police members who have provided their e-mail addresses, unless they request otherwise. Nonmembers may subscribe at the above hyperlink.

Interim Pre-Pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States—Early, Targeted, Layered Use of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (PDF)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 2007
This document provides interim planning guidance for local, state, territorial, and tribal communities on several measures other than vaccination and drug treatment that might be useful during an influenza pandemic. This interim guidance introduces a Pandemic Severity Index to characterize the severity of a pandemic, provides planning recommendations for specific interventions that communities may use for a given level of pandemic severity, and suggests when these measures should be started and how long they should be used.

Listo Campaign
On December 8, 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched the Listo Campaign—a Spanish-language version of DHS's Ready Campaign. Through television, radio, print, outdoor, and Internet advertising, the campaign will empower Spanish-speaking Americans and residents to prepare for and respond to potential terrorist attacks.

Medical Reserve Corps
The Medical Reserve Corps gives health professionals the opportunity to volunteer their time and skills to assist their communities before and during a large-scale emergency and with ongoing public health needs.

National Association of County and City Health Officials—Bioterrorism
This web page links to publications and provides information about grants, research, resources and tools, upcoming events, and other topics related to bioterrorism.

National Center on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities
The center provides resources to assist local emergency planning organizations in serving individuals with specialized communications, transportation, and medical support needs. The center provides print and multimedia materials and customized training and technical assistance to organizations that are evaluating and/or revising their emergency planning procedures.

National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC)—Homeland Security
NCPC's mission is to help people create safer and more caring communities by addressing the causes of crime and violence and reducing the opportunities for crime to occur. This site provides links to homeland security-related issues such as national and religious profiling, emergency preparedness, workplace and building security, community mobilization and volunteerism, and terrorism prevention.

National Preparedness Month 2007
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, August 31, 2007
National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is a nationwide effort held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and schools. The goal of National Preparedness Month is to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies and to encourage individuals to take action.

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)
NVOAD coordinates planning efforts by many voluntary organizations responding to disaster. Member organizations provide more effective and less duplicative service by coordinating activities before disasters strike.

Ready Instructional Videos
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Advertising Council, has created instructional videos to help educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all kinds of emergencies.

Ready New York
Centered around a household preparedness guide, Ready New York is a citywide household preparedness campaign designed to help residents of New York City better prepare themselves for all types of emergencies. The campaign includes public service announcements, a speakers bureau, and tips and information available on the web.

Terrorism Awareness and Prevention
This online resource, created by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, educates citizens about the realities and myths of terrorists and terrorism and describes how individuals can play an important role in protecting their communities.

TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response)
TRANSCAER® is a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on helping communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. Members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and emergency response industries, as well as the government.

Volunteers in Police Service
Initiated by the Citizen Corps program and implemented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) works to enhance the presence of volunteers in state and local law enforcement. VIPS meets a volunteer's desire to serve and an agency's need for support.

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Preparing Communities at the State Level

Community Safety Institute
The Community Safety Institute (CSI) is a matrix organization of law enforcement, school, public safety, and local government management professionals. CSI specializes in development, training, and technical assistance initiatives for local, state, and federal government entities.

Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA's responsibilities include reducing the loss of life and property in emergency situations and protecting the nation's critical infrastructure through a comprehensive, risk-based emergency management program of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Government Innovators Network
Harvard University's Government Innovators Network is a marketplace of ideas and examples of government innovation for policymakers, policy advisors, and practitioners.

Interim Pre-Pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States—Early, Targeted, Layered Use of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (PDF)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 2007
This document provides interim planning guidance for local, state, territorial, and tribal communities on several measures other than vaccination and drug treatment that might be useful during an influenza pandemic. This interim guidance introduces a Pandemic Severity Index to characterize the severity of a pandemic, provides planning recommendations for specific interventions that communities may use for a given level of pandemic severity, and suggests when these measures should be started and how long they should be used.

National Bioterrorism Syndromic Surveillance Demonstration Program
This program provides daily national coverage of information from ambulatory visits and calls to nurse help lines for over 20 million people. It then analyzes this information to identify unusual clusters of illness that might represent bioterrorism events or other outbreaks of public health importance.

National Emergency Response Team (NERT)
NERT is committed to the establishment of independent and joint ventures to conceive, develop, and implement disaster response services and education programs that coordinate publicly available resources during a crisis situation.

Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP)
ODP (formerly the Office for State & Local Domestic Preparedness) is the program office within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responsible for enhancing the capacity of state and local jurisdictions to respond to, and mitigate the consequences of, incidents of domestic terrorism.

Operation LIBERTY SHIELD
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2003
Operation LIBERTY SHIELD is designed to increase protections for America's citizens and infrastructure while maintaining the free flow of goods and people across our borders. It focuses on border security, transportation security, public health, federal response resources, and threat disruption.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Disasters and Emergencies
HHS' Disasters and Emergencies web site provides terrorism-related information on topics such as anthrax, small pox, and dirty bombs.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
DHS educates the public, on a continuing basis, about how to prepare for a national emergency, including a possible terrorist attack.

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