Accessible Sites:

Inclusive and Equitable Access to Emergency Sites

From July 2023 - June 2024 I was a Disability, Access, and Functional Needs consultant for New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. I focused primarily on creating resources for the agency to help create a foundation for accessibility and inclusive planning, response, and recovery. I initially had created a general survey to use at any site to check for accessibility issues. However, I realized that other emergency managers or responders less familiar with physical and programmatic accessibility may struggle to accurately assess the space because they may not really understand the concepts the survey asks you to measure. So I decided to write out a guide breaking down physical and programmatic access to accompany the survey. What I ended up writing is a facility guide called "Accessible Sites: Inclusive and Equitable Access to Emergency Sites” which lays out many concepts and planning concerns for all emergency based sites.

The guide was broken down into a few main parts: Physical Access, Programmatic Access, Language & Communication, Health and Safety Planning, and Demographic concerns. Additionally, there was a glossary of common terms and the laws regarding accessibility. Some sections were more detailed than others because things such as developing a multilingual protocol could and should have been their own guide, but all the information in this specific guide tied back to setting up and running an emergency site. Many of the sections also included additional resources that either provided more information about that topic or subtopic and occasionally New Mexico-specific organizations or programs that emergency managers could tap into. It was critical to me that I incorporate other planning concerns that sometimes get missed even under the umbrella of Access and Functional Needs. For example, in the original guide there is a subsection on Domestic Violence in the Health and Safety section with best practices to help better protect survivors of domestic violence in an emergency shelter or site. I included a resource link to the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Safe At Home project, which allows survivors to get their mail delivered to a secure location. Emergency planners might not have thought about having information about this group or program at their service center or family assistance center, but that may be the only opportunity some folks have to learn about and take advantage of a resource they desperately need.

This version of guide with notes and additional guidance that can be used by planners and agencies / organizations across the country to amend for their particular region / county / town / state / etc. This guide is a living document and is meant to be revised. Please check it out and use as you are able. If you have suggestions or questions please contact me.

You can download the guide from this google drive link.

Note: Some document accessibility formatting may break a bit, ensure you follow an appropriate header hierarchy and insert page breaks to keep sections and appendixes on new pages.