The Active Planning Workbook
EM: “We use the Active Planning Workbook to guide our three step process:
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
“It’s a simple process and the ‘magic’ really happens during the discussion.
“CSM participants work as a group to ask and answer questions like:
Do we understand local disability community emergency needs? Have we addressed CMIST and functional and access needs in our plan?”
Where are our plan’s areas of strength?
Does our plan or response practices have any gaps or areas for improvement related to the emergency needs of people with disabilities?
What are priority gaps we want to address?
What are gap closing strategies and how should we implement those strategies?
?Terrye, think about your community’s emergency plan. List any access and functional needs gaps that immediately come to mind.
EM’s Response
Every CSM to date has found communication gaps as major issue. Did you think about communication gaps? Did you think about physically accessible emergency shelters? Were the aisles in the last shelter you set up wide enough for people using wheelchairs, walkers and white canes to easily move through? What about the signage-was it easy to read and understand? Was there more than one way to share information? Did you think about your COVID-19 vaccine site? Is there an accessible pathway through the EDS? Are the stations clearly identified (e.g., Registration, Triage, etc.)? What did you do for social distancing? How would a drive-thru EDS make the process easier or harder? Are your COVID-19 communications 4ALL?
Carrie: “What’s that you say? You’re wondering where this Community Stakeholder Meeting idea comes from? And what about the workbook guide?
“The Community Stakeholder Meetings come from a FEMA-funded project that was developed at the E.K. Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School. When the FEMA funding ended the project continued. Community Stakeholder Meetings, using the workbook guide, happened in about 21 MA communities. The communities were different sizes and included towns, cities, and a county. All of the communities held meetings with different stakeholders. All of the CSMs found at least 5 gaps in the local emergency plan during the meeting, and a number of communities found more. They also found areas of strength in the plans. All of the communities made an action plan to close the gaps they found. The workbook guides the CSM as the meeting moves forward.
EM: “While the Prepared4ALL process didn’t exist when theses CSMs were held, the kinds of thinking needed to find people to invite, figure out how to work together, find solutions and make decisions and make the meetings accessible and inclusive later became part of the Prepared4ALL process.
“So, while we told you the Prepared4ALL process comes from evidence based ways to collaborate to meet challenges, the Community Stakeholder Meeting process is also evidence based.
“But now we need to get ready for our next CSM meeting. It’s coming up soon.