PREPAREDNESS
Emergencies and disasters occur every day. We must be ready to respond to natural and man-made disasters – no matter where we live. Disasters such as hurricanes can be large and affect many people or disasters such as floods can be small and affect only a few people. Both large and small disasters can be overwhelming and cause significant damage to people, property and animals, both physically and emotionally. Local officials, first responders and relief workers may not be able to reach communities immediately.
It is critically important for individuals, organizations and communities to be in a state of readiness and be self- reliant. Everyone must be ready to respond to and recover from any disaster that could affect them. It is important to have a planned response. Taking preparedness actions and effective pre-disaster planning, training and exercising is the key to successful response and recovery leading to community resilience.
Training
Training is an essential element in building prepared, heathy and safe communities. HBS provides training and support to reduce risks and increase capabilities and readiness. HBS' educators bring expertise in training, curriculum development and evaluation and provide individuals and organizations with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to succeed in a dynamic and changing environment in a cost effective and time efficient manner.
Health and Safety
- Red Cross certification BLS (Basic Life Support), Adult and Pediatric First Aid/ CPR/ AED
- Stop the Bleed
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Community Resilience
- Disaster Psychology
- Food Safety and Security
- Healthy Lifestyle Choices
- OSHA safety training
Safety and Security
- Active Shooter Response (for churches, schools, agencies)
- De-Escalation
- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
- Teen CERT
- Senior CERT
- Emergency Preparedness and Safety
- Youth Emergency Preparedness
- Pet Preparedness
Specialty Training
- Volunteer Management- Recruit, Train, Retain
- Animal Disaster and Animal Sheltering
- Sensitivity to those with Access and Functional Needs
- Senior Awareness
Emergency Management
- Incident Command System (ICS) training
- National Incident Management System (NIMS)
- Threat, Risk and Needs Assessments
- Disaster Response
Planning Assessments
HBS identifies, assists and supports individuals, organizations and communities to develop strategies to improve preparedness, readiness and response. HBS supports building community strengths to implement programs and engage individuals through education, training and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, better prepared and more resilient.
- Emergency action plans, review of elements, including, communication, notification, roles and responsibilities
- Training and identify training needs
- Hazard vulnerability analysis and assessment
- Disabilities and Access and Functional needs
- Companion animal needs
Plan Development & Review
HBS provides planning services for the development of operational plans for planning life cycle, utilizing the FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness Guide six- step process, including hazard and risk assessment and mitigation while focusing on the whole community and the needs of those with disabilities and access and functional needs to achieve community resilience.
Effective planning, education, and training instill confidence and the necessary skills to get through and bounce back from emergencies and disasters and to develop adaptation plans for the future.
HBS assists and supports individuals, organizations and communities in the development, implementation and evaluation of emergency preparedness, response and recovery plans.
Preparedness Plans
- All Hazards Emergency Preparedness and Response Operational Plans
- Hazard Vulnerability Assessments to Identify, Assess, Mitigate Risks
- Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plans
- Personal Preparedness Plans
- Community Resilience Planning
Planning During Events
- Mass Care and Shelter Planning for general population and those with access and functional needs
- Animal Sheltering Plans
- Health and Medical Planning for Special Events
- Donations Management Plans
Behind The Scenes
- Medical Countermeasures
- Volunteer Management
- Budget and grant support
Exercises & Drills
HBS develops exercises and drills to demonstrate capacity and capability and implement corrective actions from improvement plans. Exercising serves as a valuable tool to access and improve individual performance and provides information to organizations to identify gaps in resources and coordination, flaws and vulnerabilities that can be improved or corrected prior to an event.
Exercises are HSEEP-compliant and include:
- Design & Development
- Evaluation
- Documentation
- After Action Reporting
- Improvement planning
RESPONSE
HBS engages individuals and organizations through training and programs to prepare them to serve as community responders in emergencies and disasters that may overwhelm public resources. HBS provides support to organizations during disasters and events where response is needed.
In addition, when not responding to disasters or emergencies, HBS assists communities by:
- Assisting in fund raising for emergency response equipment;
- Providing first-aid, crowd control or other services at events;
- Holding planning, training, or volunteer recruitment meetings; and
- Conducting or participating in disaster response exercises.
Response Offerings
- Red Cross certifications training in BLS, CPR, AED, First Aid
- Health and Medical Operations
- Mass Care and Sheltering
- Pet Sheltering
- Incident Action Planning
- Volunteer Management
- Medical Counter Measures, Points of Dispensing
- Animal Disease Environmental Response
- Patient, Pet and Service Animal Tracking
RESILIENCE
Community resilience is the ability for a community to get through and bounce back from emergencies and to devlop adaption strategies by developing connections, relationships and resources. Community resilience also integrates preparedness and recovery into routine activities that promote health and wellness.
“National Preparedness-"A secure and resilient nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.” Presidential Policy Directive / PPD-8
PPD-8 defines preparedness around five mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, Recovery.
During an emergency it is important to be aware of possible impacts and to be self-reliant and resilient:
Ways to Increase Community Resilience
- Be aware: Sign up for alerts
- Develop community connections, relationships: Build support network of neighbors, family, friends
- Know and develop strengths, skills, abilities: CPR, first aid, Volunteer
- Know health and medical needs: Inventory health and medical needs. Have access to specialized items, such as, wheelchair batteries, catheters
- Know the community: Be aware of resources
Resilience Offerings
- Personal planning to maintain independence for those with access and functional needs
- Community resilience planning
