CDC Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response’s (OPHPR) Learning Office selected seven communities that are promising examples of community efforts that reflect and embody FEMA’s Whole Community approach to emergency management.
The Whole Community approach to emergency management engages business, government and nonprofit sectors to integrate the needs, capabilities and resources of the community. The organizations have been selected as a part of this pilot program for promising progress and leadership in the field. Through this collaboration, the seven selected organizations will receive resources and expertise to expand their preparedness efforts and share best practices.
The seven initiatives selected for this project are:
- Emergency Kit Cook Off, Arizona Division of Emergency Management, Phoenix, AZ
- Do 1 Thing, Lansing Office of Emergency Management, Lansing, MI
- The Independent Living Centers, Joplin, MO
- Resilient Diamond Heights Project, San Francisco
- Project Wildfire, Deschutes County, OR
- EvacuSpots, New Orleans, LA
- Partners in Preparedness, NYC Office of Emergency Management, New York City, NY
As a part of the initiative CDC will aggregate best practices and lessons learned from the seven communities to build learning communities for disaster preparedness. These best practices and lessons learned will inform the development of recommended preparedness strategies to help other communities adopt and practice the Whole Community approach.
The goal of the collaboration is to build and strengthen partnerships, empower local action, highlight community work, and ultimately create a collective body of knowledge among emergency managers nationwide that supports a Whole Community approach to emergency management.
“CDC works closely with FEMA before, during and after disasters to protect the health of Americans,” said Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “CDC plays an important role in our nation’s health security, working with state and local health departments to prepare for, detect and respond to health threats. The CDC Foundation is pleased to serve as the nexus, where, for this collaboration, CDC, FEMA and cross-sector community leaders can come together to share expertise and resources to improve our nation’s readiness and resilience.”
About FEMA’s whole community approach to emergency management
FEMA recognizes that a government-centric approach to emergency management is not enough to meet the challenges posed by a catastrophic incident. Whole Community is an approach to emergency management that reinforces the fact that FEMA is only one part of our nation’s emergency management team. This larger collective emergency management team includes, not only FEMA and its partners at the federal level, but also local, tribal, state and territorial partners; non-governmental organizations like faith-based and non-profit groups and private sector industry; to individuals, families and communities, who continue to be the nation’s most important assets as first responders during a disaster. More info
About CDC’s work related to the whole community approach
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response’s (OPHPR) Learning Office organizes leadership and community engagement efforts related to emergency preparedness. Recognizing that government alone cannot create and maintain a prepared and resilient community, CDC continues to explore what community programs achieve the vision of government and communities working hand-in-hand to secure a prepared, healthy and safe community. More info