Resources

Disaster Planning Tools

Disaster Planning by and for Organizations Serving People Living with HIV

As demonstrated by innumerable hurricanes, these storms can bring devastation to everyone in their path. This is particularly true of people living with HIV and the organizations that serve them.

After Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and María in 2017, many nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico and on the US mainland put together new plans or strengthened existing plans for anticipating and responding to hurricanes and other disasters. Such documents may include everything from staff responsibilities and risk assessment guidelines to concrete operational plans during emergencies and how to respond after disaster strikes. These plans are critical to have worked through, written out, and introduced to staff in advance as they can significantly ease the planning for and response after devastation.

PR CoNCRA and Migrant Health Center, both located in Puerto Rico, as well as CrescentCare in New Orleans, have authorized AIDS United to share their associated disaster preparation and response plans. Organizations in areas that are vulnerable to disasters – everything from hurricanes and tornadoes to fires and floods to terrorist attacks – may find these useful as models for creating or strengthening their own disaster planning. Those plans are linked below.