Disaster planning is not often a priority in battered women's shelters or transition homes, where your work focuses on daily survival issues. But your shelter is the only home women in crisis have, and it will be directly or indirectly impacted should a major disaster hit your neighborhood.

Working through worst-case scenarios to assess risks, vulnerabilities, and resources will help your program respond when shelter residents need you more than ever. Staff, volunteers, and board members will also benefit as potential disaster victims and as emergency responders to shelter residents and clients.

Who pays? Time and money are not the only constraints to disaster planning, but they are critical. Your board or advisory committee may be able to take this on. Preparedness and mitigation are a good investment and local funders and service groups may help meet the costs of disaster planning. Making your interest and needs known to funding agencies and local emergency management officials is always essential. Funding priorities in women's services and emergency organizations must include disaster planning for battered women's shelters.

No single model of disaster planning fits all. Contact your local emergency managers for more information and area-specific recommendations.

• Environmental or technological hazards: (e.g. how likely is your shelter to be impacted by a flooded river or tsunami? How close are storage facilities for hazardous waste, major transportation arteries, the airport or the harbor?)
  
  
• Resident vulnerability: This varies depending on your clients, but consider the general nature of women you tend to shelter. Do you often serve migrant workers or women from outlying rural areas, disabled women, undocumented or minority-language speakers, or seniors? They will have different needs during and after a major disaster.
  
  
• Physical facility: Relative to the risks you have identified, how safe is your shelter physically? Consider type of construction, age, condition, number and location of exits, available safe spaces, window protection, etc. Consult local specialists who can help you with this evaluation.
  
  
• Community services: Consider community characteristics which will impact on the disaster recovery of battered women, e.g., housing availability, employment patterns, child care resources, minority language services, area health services, public transportation routes, etc. How can your agency work with others before a crisis to ensure coordinated services after a major disaster?
  
  

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: Strive to be self-sufficient for 72 hours after a major disaster. Shelters will often have storage space and supplies on hand, but other programs also need to stockpile supplies. Assume your shelter is full and you are housing women and children with a range of ages and personal needs.

ADMINISTRATION: Supporting shelter residents involves lots of "backstage" services which are also important to protect before, during, and after disaster. Learning more about issues likely to arise will reduce possible conflicts later.

• Clear lines of authority and responsibility. If key decision-makers are unavailable, who takes over? Is all your personal contact information complete and accurate? What is the role of volunteers or board members in crisis?
  
  
• Personnel guidelines for the emergency period, including job responsibilities, arrangements for release time, compensation for lost time, etc.
  
  
• Bureaucratic contingency planning to meet obligations to other agencies if your office is not functional; off-site storage of duplicate records; alternative workspaces and methods to provide continuous service, e.g. from coalition offices to member programs
  
  

RESOURCES. After the immediate crisis, other programs will want to help shelters that were directly impacted. How will you assess their needs? What can you realistically offer? What other resources can programs and residents access?

• Coalition protocols for mutual aid. You may not be able to communicate with impacted programs but will want to help with evacuation space, child care, emergency supplies, replacement supplies or equipment, respite care for staff, etc. Establish a centralized needs assessment system, e.g. through the coalition office or an a regional basis. Advance planning will make your help timely and appropriate. Keep protocols up-to-date.
  
  
• Area agency protocols for coordinated crisis assistance, e.g. with information and referral lines, food banks, homeless shelters, local attorney and counseling associations, grassroots advocacy groups and private disaster relief agencies. You may be able to share skilled crisis line workers, offer needed language skills, or even have shelter space available for evacuated women and children needing short-term emergency housing. Groups working with particularly vulnerable populations need formal and informal networks to plan for equitable disaster response. Keep protocols up-to-date.
  
  
• Resource bank of first-responders and resources. This information is on hand for crisis line workers but be sure it is current and reflects personnel or policy changes in emergency operations staff, law enforcement, ambulance and hospital, etc. Know in advance what assistance you can and cannot expect from first-responders in a widespread disaster. Is your shelter on anyone's priority list for assistance? Would emergency transportation to evacuation sites be available if needed, or your power restored on a priority basis?
  
  
• Keep emergency assistance information on file regarding private and public postdisaster aid. Knowing in advance about eligibility standards and application procedures will make a difference later. A board member or staff person may take this on and ensure that sample applications and basic information are available on site.
  
  

STAFF TRAINING: Emergency response is part of routine staff training and shelter orientation. Staff should also be trained to respond to worst-case scenarios of severe and widespread damage. You may want to include residents in some aspects of disaster preparedness as well. How will staff and residents work together to keep the shelter self-sufficient for 72 hours?

• Staff training should include essential emergency guidelines: utility cut-off procedures, primary medical response (e.g., CPR), knowledge of emergency communications systems, evacuation plans and back-up transportation systems, etc.
  
  
• Disaster preparedness and response training covering hazards, impacts, responses, and recovery may be available locally through your emergency response office or voluntary relief organizations. It should be tailored to your circumstances and available regularly to staff and interested volunteers or board members.
  
  

USING THE DISASTER PLAN: A response plan filed under "forget it" is still helpful. The process of developing the plan is an important step. But a disaster plan shared and reviewed will help you more in a crisis.

• File your shelter's disaster plan with your local emergency manager. Be specific about your anticipated needs. Also identify resources you may be able to offer to others in the event of a major disaster.
  
  
• Review and update your disaster response plan; incorporate it into staff and resident orientation.
  
  
• Conduct regular drills with staff, volunteers, and board members. Disaster planning identifies vulnerabilities but also builds on strengths; it can be empowering for shelter residents.
  
  
• Become acquainted with your local emergency practitioners. Know who these people are and how they work. Attend public meetings and take part in emergency drills, if possible; be certain how your program will and will not be included in local emergency response.