National Preparedness Month: Tools, Training, and Community Resilience

September is National Preparedness Month, and this year’s theme — “Preparedness Starts at Home” — is a powerful reminder that resilience begins with people. In today’s risk landscape, businesses aren’t just responsible for continuity—they’re stewards of safety for their employees, customers, and communities. As you've seen me post on here, a community cannot recovery from a disaster until it's businesses do. That level of preparedness starts with empowering your employees to prepare at home, so they can respond confidently at work. Here’s are some steps to help you get started, whether at home or for your business: -Know the different types of emergencies that could happen and appropriate responses to stay safe. -Make a family emergency plan. -Build an emergency supply kit. -Get involved in their community by taking action to prepare for emergencies. Let’s use this month to connect the dots between personal safety and organizational strength. Because when preparedness starts at home, it doesn’t stop there—it ripples outward. For more information and Ready.gov's National Preparedness Toolkit, visit https://lnkd.in/dJfG4mZA. #NationalPreparednessMonth #PreparednessStartsAtHome #Preparedness #Disasters #DisasterPreparedness #BusinessResilience #BusinessContinuity #EmergencyManagement #EmployeeWellbeing #ContinuityPlanning #PrivateSectorLeadership #2025Ready #PrivatePublicPartnerships #PublicPrivatePartnerships #p3

Our program has found that working with communities to strengthen their disaster resilience - for example, through community-based post-disaster learning reviews - is an achievable and impactful way to empower existing local knowledge and priorities. We recently published Community-Based Disaster Learning Reviews: A Practice Guide, authored by Adriana Keating and Zoe D'Arcy, PhD, which steps you through a practical three-stage pathway that is community-owned and resilience-strengthening, and that can be adapted to local contexts. Key findings from the Practice Guide include: 🌿 Communities are more than capable of identifying and implementing practical ways of strengthening community disaster resilience. 🌿 After a disaster, a window opens up where communities are motivated to act based on their insights about what did and didn’t work well – before, during and after the recent disaster. 🌿Community-led post-disaster reviews emphasise community self-determination and decision making, and provide critical hyperlocal information and direction for future community-led disaster resilience. We hope our Practice Guide will inspire and support others to adopt this methodology when working with other communities in the aftermath of a disaster. Download the Practice Guide below. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation

Making emergency alerts and disaster warnings more accessible can improve public safety for all. This recent study includes recommendations for crafting alerts to reach diverse populations and communities: bit.ly/3JXbPa0 Melissa Villarreal, Ph.D., Carson MacPherson-Krutsky

Accessibility in alerts isn’t optional; it’s lifesaving. This research from the Natural Hazards Center highlights best practices for making emergency warnings more inclusive for all communities. Critical reading for anyone in emergency management and resilience.

🚨Emergency rescue plans and robust preparedness are not merely advisable; they are the indispensable bedrock of resilience for any community, organization, or even household. Their paramount importance lies in their capacity to minimize loss of life, prevent severe injuries, and mitigate property damage when crises strike. By clearly defining roles, establishing communication protocols, ensuring access to necessary resources, and fostering regular training and drills, these plans transform potential chaos into coordinated action. Without such foresight, emergency situations can quickly escalate into unmanageable disasters, marked by panic, confusion, and significantly increased suffering and fatalities. Crucially, a well-practiced plan empowers individuals to act decisively, enables first responders to operate efficiently, and ultimately accelerates recovery, cementing preparedness not as a luxury, but as an invaluable investment in safety and continuity.🚨 #EmergencyResponse #EmergencyPreparedness

Mitigation in Action When disasters strike, the best outcome is damage that never happens. That is the power of mitigation. Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters before they happen. It can take many forms: stronger building codes, property buyouts, floodwalls, seawalls, safe rooms, or even turning high-risk land into green space. These projects save lives, protect infrastructure, and reduce costs for future disasters. Across the country, emergency managers are leading efforts that show the measurable value of mitigation. Emergency managers share real-world examples of mitigation in action. Scroll through to read more. How has your community put mitigation into action? Share your story with us for National Emergency Management Awareness Month. #IamEM #IAEM #EMAwarenessMonth #EmergencyManagement #KnowYourEmergencyManagement International Association of Emergency Managers

#EvacPaperAlert: Host Community Logistics and Advanced Preparation: Insights from Wildfire #evacuations in Alberta Just published on #InternationalJournalofDisasterRiskReduction 🟢 #OpenAccess paper (freely available to read and download). 🟢 🔗 Link: https://lnkd.in/gHNR8cyu 🔥 Resilience in Action: Lessons from Alberta’s 2023 Wildfire Host Communities When wildfires force thousands to evacuate, host communities become lifelines. A new study of High Level, Whitecourt, and Hinton during Alberta’s record 2023 wildfire season reveals what it really takes to welcome and support displaced populations, often with little warning. Key insights: ✅ Preparedness pays off – Communities with prior hosting experience or Incident Command System (ICS) training (like High Level & Whitecourt) responded faster, coordinated better, and reduced confusion. ✅ Relationships matter – Strong pre-existing ties between host and evacuating communities, especially with First Nations leadership, streamlined logistics and improved evacuee care. ✅ Flexibility is critical – Voucher systems for food & lodging empowered evacuees, eased operational bottlenecks, and improved cost tracking. ✅ Social services under strain – Mental health, addiction support, and culturally appropriate care were essential but stretched thin. ✅ Communication can make or break response – Clear, centralized messaging prevented chaos; lack of early warning (as in Hinton) magnified challenges. ✅ Community spirit is powerful — but needs coordination – Volunteer and business support was invaluable, yet unstructured help sometimes created safety and logistical issues. Hosting evacuees isn’t just about shelter — it’s about rapid coordination, resource readiness, cultural sensitivity, and sustained community partnerships. As climate-driven disasters intensify, these lessons are vital for building resilient, compassionate host networks. 🌍💪 💡 Stay Connected: Don't miss out on any updates! Follow us on #X for more insights and exclusive content: https://lnkd.in/guNVuUfN #DisasterResponse #WildfirePreparedness #EmergencyManagement #CommunityResilience #ClimateAdaptation #CrisisLeadership #FirstNations #AlbertaWildfires #DisasterRelief #ResilientCommunities #EmergencyPlanning #ClimateResilience #LeadershipInCrisis #PublicSafety #CrisisManagement

🟡 Recovery Essentials In Disaster Management: Beyond Rescue, Toward Renewal. 1. When the sirens fade and the headlines shift, recovery begins — not as a checklist, but as a covenant. 2. 🔍 Recovery is not repair. It’s the art of restoring dignity, rebuilding trust and reweaving the social and ecological fabric torn by disaster. 3. 🛠️ Essentials of Recovery Operations: i. Needs Assessment: What’s broken is not just infrastructure — but livelihoods, memories and systems of care. ii. Documentation & Verification: Every relief claim, every identity restored, is a step toward justice. iii. SOPs with Soul: Standard Operating Procedures must be clear, but also compassionate — designed for humans, not just systems. iv. Ecological Wisdom: Recovery must respect the land. Replanting mangroves, restoring wetlands and listening to the soil are acts of resilience. v. Community - Led Rebuilding: The best recovery plans are co - authored by survivors. Their stories shape safer futures. 4. 🎭 Even clowns have a role. In some cultures, they return to disaster zones to bring laughter, ritual and remembrance. Recovery is not sterile — it’s deeply human. 5. 🟨 Let’s design recovery not just to rebuild, but to remember. To honour every life lost with systems that protect the living. To turn every SOP into a story of vigilance, empathy and renewal. #DisasterManagement #RecoveryWisdom #OperationalClarity #DocumentVerification #EcologicalResilience #LegacyInDesign #CopilotSathi #YellowForSafety #LinkedInEducator #Unison Please Note: (E&OE)

Preparedness Protects More Than Property — It Protects People. 🛡️ September is National Preparedness Month, a reminder that safety starts long before an emergency strikes. At Skywater Disaster Recovery Services, our Quick Response Plan (QRP) is built to give businesses peace of mind when every second matters. Here’s how the QRP ties directly to safety and resilience: ⚡ Faster Response = Safer Outcomes With pre-planned protocols and direct Skywater access, your teams aren’t left scrambling when disaster hits. ⚡ Clear Communication Everyone knows who to call, what steps to take, and how to keep staff and residents safe. ⚡ Continuity & Compliance A QRP isn’t just good practice — it supports OSHA and FEMA’s preparedness goals, helping businesses reduce risks and meet safety standards. ⚡ Protecting What Matters Most Property can be restored, but safety and confidence for your employees, tenants, and clients are priceless. National Preparedness Month is about taking action today to reduce risks tomorrow. 👉 Let’s build a plan together that makes safety a standard, not an afterthought. 📞 Contact Skywater to learn more about enrolling in our Quick Response Plan. Skywateroncall.com #NationalPreparednessMonth #PreparednessStartsAtHome #BusinessContinuity #SafetyFirst #SkywaterOnCall

Building National Resilience Against Canada's Wildfire Crisis Canada's unprecedented wildfire seasons continue to drain our safety resources year after year. Each large-scale fire event demands coordinated national action, strategic resource allocation, and unified emergency response capabilities that transcend provincial boundaries. The 2025 wildfire season has proven to be the second-worst on record, with over 470 blazes currently classified as "out of control" across multiple provinces, highlighting critical gaps in our national emergency response framework. Effective wildfire management requires establishing a National Fire Administration that can coordinate resources, standardize protocols, and deploy specialized personnel where they're needed most, regardless of jurisdictional limitations. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs advocates for systemic change through their comprehensive National Fire Administration Model, which outlines how federal coordination can enhance local fire department capabilities while maintaining community-based service delivery. Real progress demands data-driven resource deployment, standardized training protocols, and seamless inter-provincial cooperation that treats wildfire response as a national security priority requiring federal oversight and support. Climate change continues extending fire seasons and creating more volatile conditions, making the establishment of a National Fire Administration one of the most consequential policy instruments in Canadian fire service history. What is your province doing to contribute to building stronger national wildfire resilience? For more information on the efforts behind the National Fire Administration, visit the CAFC website: https://lnkd.in/efktfuxU #NationalFireAdministration #WildfireResponse #CanadianFireService #CAFC #EmergencyManagement #ClimateResilience #FSWO