What We Do
We are global leaders in disability-inclusive emergency and disaster preparedness. Our experience includes working with small and large organizations and businesses, local, national and international governments, and the United Nations.
Natural and human-caused disasters happen more often, cause more damage, and are more complex than ever before. We provide your organization with inclusive disaster preparedness and resilience planning, training, and consulting to save lives and lower the negative impact on your organization and your community.
Our innovative and proven approaches, including our keystone Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Resilience (DIEPDR) Services, are explained below.
Note: For accessibility, we have written this page in plain language. For industry-specific terms, jargon, and other complex terms that needed to be included, we have linked them to our glossary. To see a glossary definition, follow the link, then use the back button on your browser to return back to this page.
Emergency and Disaster Planning
We help cities and counties improve emergency and disaster plans by including and supporting knowledgeable people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs as key partners.
We review your current plans and do a gap analysis. Then we update or develop new plans and create solutions that include people with disabilities and the whole community, helping agency officials meet and go beyond compliance requirements. This process is thorough to make sure everyone in the community is considered before, during, and after an emergency or disaster.
Our emergency and disaster planning work for public agencies includes:
Designing Emergency Operations Plans that include people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs
Making sure all plans are universally inclusive, including evacuation, transportation, sheltering, shelter in place, distribution, medical care and health maintenance, exits from institutions, housing, recovery, reunification, and all communication plans
Providing Standard Operating Procedures, guidance, and considerations documents for all departments
Establishing or refreshing protocols, procedures, and documents related to accommodating people with disabilities, including protocols and procedures for disability stakeholder groups
Providing recommendations and expectations of partner and support agents
Creating and customizing disability-inclusive resource and referral lists, evaluation checklists, job action sheets, and just-in-time training so that everyone has exactly what they need to be inclusive
Making sure that people with disabilities and multiply-marginalized people have equitable assistance throughout the disaster cycle
Preparedness and Empowerment Training Program for Organizations
Our team has decades of experience in designing and delivering disability-inclusive preparedness and empowerment training for organizations of all sizes.
From large federal agencies and corporations to major cities, local governments, and businesses of all sizes, we customize our training size, scope, focus, and delivery to meet the needs of our clients.
Our training covers:
Making sure people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs are engaged, included and accommodated
Integrating disability-inclusive principles into emergency preparedness and disaster planning, response, recovery, and hazard mitigation and risk reduction
Expanding an organization’s connections with disability leaders and disability services before, during, and after emergencies and disasters
Creating equitable environments, programs, and communication strategies before a disaster strikes
Developing whole community inclusion, universal design, accessibility, and reasonable accommodations and modifications to protect the health and safety of everyone the organization affects
Preparedness and Empowerment Training Program for Individuals with Disabilities
Our team of experts understand that inclusive living must include personal preparedness. We empower individuals with disabilities to take ownership of their own preparedness and to become leaders in their communities. Our training:
Uses easy-to-use tools written in plain language + easy-access Universal Design Learning strategy
Is designed for people with disabilities who live independently or have independence in their daily life
Includes a variety of modalities to reach stakeholders and communities via accessible and flexible methods
A community of people with disabilities who partner to create disaster equity, climate resilience, and inclusive emergency management are one of the most important parts of disability inclusion in a disaster.
Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Resilience Consulting Services Suite
We understand that disability-inclusive emergency preparedness programs can be difficult to achieve, so we developed the Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Resilience (DIEPDR) Consulting Services Suite.
We know that preparedness at all levels — personal, community, corporate, national, and global, is essential to rapid response. Our robust suite of services is designed to build sustainable resilience that supports community hubs in both the private and public sectors.
Organizations committed to social responsibility and justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of emergency preparedness and disaster resilience priorities use the DIEPDR Suite to:
- Identify and close gaps
- Protect their investment in people
- Create a culture of universal disability inclusion
The DIEPDR strategy and scope includes:
Providing an overview of the DIEPDR Suite that will be tailored to the client's needs
Providing a self-evaluation tool to start the DIEPDR process
Conducting a thorough analysis to measure current disaster preparedness plans, policies, processes, and the responsibilities of key positions within a business, organization, or agency by knowledgeable experts in all areas
Producing a customized DIEPDR report of findings and recommendations with minimum, suggested, and exemplary standards, and the information that an organization needs to identify internal, business relationship, and external areas of risk and vulnerability
Identifying an organization’s strengths and gaps in physical environments, programs, communications, and documentation to make sure disaster, resilience, and continuity of operations planning includes people with disabilities
Recognizing corporations and organizations who are leading models of disability inclusion in their community with a Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness Certification
All DIEPDR services can be customized to be used as a stand-alone tool or together with a broader accessibility effort, such as IAAP’s Smart Business For All (SB4All)
Ready to learn more?
If you want to learn more and receive a free quote for any of our services, please email us at resilience@wid.org to schedule a meeting or request a quote.