The Disaster Preparedness Self-assessment Worksheet is a planning tool to help you recognize your program’s strengths and find areas that may need improvement. The worksheet can also help you decide which preparedness activities to do first even if you already have some disaster preparedness procedures.
Pay special attention to the following issues when you are completing your self-assessment.
Hazard Assessment
A hazard assessment using the Hazard Assessment Checklist will help you to understand which disasters are more likely in your community. You may start by preparing for the risks of extreme weather and natural disasters most likely to occur in your geographic location, but a hazard assessment will also include other risks, such as nearby industries and power plants. Also consider incidents that can affect public safety but may be less predictable, such as community violence, an intruder or active shooter, or a disease outbreak.
Tips for assessing possible hazards:
- Contact your local emergency management agency for information and guidance about natural disasters that are likely to occur in your area.
- Use the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk Index Map to create a report that will show you the risk of various hazards in any geographic area you select.
- Ask for information about possible utility, transportation, and hazardous materials emergencies.
- Contact your local health department for information about disease outbreaks.
Facility Safety
Your facility can protect the safety and well-being of children and staff in a disaster. Mitigation means taking actions that can lessen the harm from a disaster. Read the Natural Disasters and Head Start Facilities guide to help you determine possible risks to your facilities and find ways to mitigate them before a disaster. You can also use the Building Risk Assessment Forms in the guide to help you plan how to prepare for eight types of natural disasters.
Next, work with your facility disaster management team and your disaster preparedness task force to evaluate your facility’s safety for other emergencies that may involve utilities, transportation, fires, hazardous materials, or an intruder. Also consider infectious disease outbreaks and possible facility renovations to lower the risk of spreading respiratory viruses.
Communication
A disaster preparedness plan should include how staff members communicate with each other, first responders, public health officials, children, and families during an emergency. Every program will need a communications hub where communication in and out of the program takes place. The hub could be a physical place with communication equipment or a person who acts as the main contact.
You may need several ways to communicate depending on the emergency. For example, for an emergency with a power outage or reduced cell phone service you may need one or more of these communication options:
- Signaling devices such as a whistle to alert staff about an emergency or to give an “all clear” message when the emergency is over.
- Battery-powered megaphones or bullhorns to communicate with children and staff.
- Battery- or hand-powered weather radios to get information from emergency officials.
- Battery-powered walkie-talkies to communicate with staff and search-and-rescue teams, especially if cell phone service is down.
- Emergency backup power sources for your cell phone or other communication devices.
- A landline or satellite phone as a backup in case cell phones fail.
Be sure to set up and test emergency communication systems before an emergency to make sure your systems work as planned.
Your plan also should describe how you will communicate with families before, during, and after an emergency. Use technology that meets the needs of the families in your program. Consider both electronic and low-tech communication such as bulletin boards, word of mouth, printed newsletters, handouts, or home visits during an extended closure. In an emergency, sending a text may be more reliable than a phone call.
For example, your program may use these options to communicate with families:
- Post an updated Local Emergency Contacts Form in every facility.
- Make sure that all emergency contacts for children and staff are up to date.
- Give families an emergency phone contact number so they can reach you.
- Give Emergency Wallet Cards so families know the addresses and phone numbers of your temporary relocation sites and can give this information to their authorized emergency contacts.
- Prerecord a phone message for families with the most up-to-date information or use a communication app to send out a message.
Some emergencies may force your program to close. Consider the types of communication technology you will need during a long closure, such as:
- Laptops, tablets, or mobile devices for staff.
- Virtual platforms for offering online services if needed.
- Internet access for families and staff without reliable internet connections.
Learn more by reading the Emergency Communications Capabilities form.
Emergency Supplies
Every program needs to prepare supplies for short-term (at least six hours) and long-term (at least 72 hours) care of children and staff. Decide what kind of supplies you will need, who will buy them, and where you will store them. Be sure to include medical equipment and medication for children in your program. Use the Children with Disabilities and Special Health Care Needs Checklist to know what special medical or mobility equipment you may need. For example, check your need for walking ropes, evacuation cribs, wagons, strollers with multiple seats, or portable wheelchairs for evacuation.
You will use some of these supplies to put together an emergency supply kit, also known as a “go bag.” It has the supplies and equipment you will need to care for children — such as food, water, medicine, clothing, diapers, wipes, and other items — if families can’t pick up their children right away. The bag is also for any supplies needed for staff. Pack a Bee CALM Backpack with materials such as Play-Doh, stress balls, puppets, and storybooks to help children feel calmer and more secure during an emergency. You can also help families prepare an emergency supply kit to keep at home.
Tips for getting and storing emergency supplies:
Discuss the results of your disaster preparedness self-assessment with your emergency preparedness task force. If indicated, create a plan to improve your program’s preparedness.
- Get a supply of clean water. You will need water for drinking, cooking, and washing.
- Store enough water to have at least one gallon per person per day. Commercially prepared bottled water is the most reliable. Store bottled water in its original sealed container, and do not open it until you need it. Check the expiration or “use by” date and replace when needed.
- Consider what your staff and children need for food (e.g., formula or breast milk and food for people with special diets or allergies). Choose foods that are familiar and developmentally appropriate, so they are not a choking hazard for young children.
- See the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website on Food Safety Emergency Response for resources that can help you plan how to reduce food safety risks during emergencies and weather-related disasters. In emergencies, it is best to have food that does not need a refrigerator, water, special preparation, or cooking.
- Store your emergency food in sturdy, waterproof containers with tight-fitting lids. Review the Emergency Food Storage Tips Handout to learn more about storing food for emergencies.
- Buy or build your own emergency supply kit or go bag. Remember to include first aid supplies and items to care for the children in your program.
- Decide where you will store short- and long-term supplies, including your go bags and Bee CALM Backpacks. It may not be practical to move all the items with you, so when you develop your agreements with your relocation sites, ask if they can store your emergency supplies.
- Set up a schedule to check the dates on your supplies, replace outdated or used items, and add new items when needed.
Last Updated: June 13, 2025