Camps often make the mistake of only preparing for the last disaster, but true preparedness is expecting the unexpected. National Preparedness Month is a reminder to review your plans for the next emergency or disaster. The off season is the perfect time to evaluate your lessons learned from last time and think ahead to what could happen in the future. 

The preparedness of many summer camps has recently been tested. From wildfires to flooding and other severe weather, there is no shortage of examples of why emergency preparedness, including plans and procedures, supplies and equipment, and staff training, is a necessity. 

Every camp is unique, which means a one-size fits all plan won’t work. Urban camps will be different from remote camps, and coastal camps will be different from camps high in the mountains. Each has different needs, requiring different plans, training, and supplies. 

Preparing for future disasters can be overwhelming — you may not know where to start! Luckily, the off season is the perfect time to master your camp’s preparedness. Here are three things you can do this fall to improve your camp’s disaster preparedness for next season. 

Read Through Your Plan with Fresh Eyes 

Emergency plans often get put on the back shelf once written. The last couple of summers have reminded us why these plans shouldn’t be allowed to collect dust. With flash flooding, windstorms, heatwaves, wildfires, and other forms of extreme weather on the rise, preparedness plans must be a living document. 

Take some time to read through your plan and ask those questions. Is your plan ready for all the disasters that can affect your area? Have local first responder agencies, including your local emergency managers, reviewed your plan? What is missing? Think of recent disasters that have affected other camps around the country — could those happen to your camp? 

Talk Through the Plan with Your Team

As we say in emergency management, “the most important part of planning is the process!” Any important element of updating your plan is by talking it through with trusted staff, experts, and reviewers. This starts with your core planning team, the small group of people that help you write and shape the plan. This may include the camp director, facilities director, program director, and anyone else who plays a lead role when an emergency happens. Seasoned volunteers and former camp directors are great resources to include in this process. You will also want experts. This could include experts like local emergency managers and meteorologists, as well as your camp’s resident experts, like seasoned volunteers or former camp directors. Lastly are reviewers — individuals who may not need to be part of the early process but should be aware of the new updates to the plan, such as key vendors (e.g., bussing) and local first responder agencies that play a role during response. 

Read Up on This Summer’s Events and New Resources

Finally, it is important to keep updated on the latest information and trainings. This summer, camps were evacuating from floods, sinking canoes to protect them from wildfires, and working quickly to meet new camp safety regulations. To help keep camp professionals up to date with these changes, the American Camp Association (ACA) is hosting Risk Management Lessons from Summer on October 6. The webinar will cover lessons learned from the last few years, along with steps camps can take to improve their preparedness. 

You can also check out some of these resources provided by ACA and their partners: 

• Latest News and Posts from ACA provides new information and learning opportunities throughout the year.
• First Street Climate Risk Reports for Camps provides camps with a customized climate risk assessment including risks for your location, as well as the way risk will change over time. 
• The Safety Navigator is a nonprofit that provides resources for camps including emergency plan tools and templates, walk-through videos, and in-person workshops. 
• The Association of State Floodplain Managers recently created a Flooding Emergency Action Plan template document to help guide the planning process for camps. 
• The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency includes frameworks and templates to support the creation of trainings and exercises to increase emergency readiness. 

John Carr, ScD, is an emergency management expert from Maryville, Missouri. His expertise focuses on emergency management planning, emergency alerts and warnings, and supporting preparedness efforts at youth camps across the country. John has over 20 years of experience working with camps as everything from a camp counselor, to program advisory board member, to accreditation chair.