Introduction to the Access & Functional Needs Resource Framework in Emergency Management

The Access and Functional Needs Resource framework suggests there are resources EVERYONE needs during emergencies regardless of who we are. This means that everyone needs access to resources in order to function during emergencies. Come learn about a memory tool that is inclusive of everyone and will help everyone prepare for resource disruptions in emergencies and disasters.

We will introduce you to a memory tool that helps meet legal obligations with what the Protected Class (Section 504, ADA, CRCL, Aging) laws require. This session will help relay what emergency management and advocates need to know about working with emergency management and/or how to support EM to get to a commitment stage & meet compliance.

About the Presenter

Sadie Martinez is the Colorado State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s Access and Functional Needs Coordinator and serves as the Access and Whole Community Inclusion Caucus Chair for the International Association for Emergency Management. She provides training across Colorado and the nation in her role using a solution-focused “how to” approach in Whole Community Inclusion Planning and Emergency Preparedness for those who are most affected as a result of disasters. This helps others learn to “seek to understand” and “what we don’t know, because we don’t know” using a “plan with” approach towards whole community inclusion. Sadie uses the CMIST resource framework, which creates a shared universal language that provides a whole-community inclusion approach to identify the actual resource needs of the community in Communication, Maintaining Health/Medical, Independence, Support Services and Safety, and Transportation resources, rather than a specific “special need” or vulnerability. This helps responders and agencies better understand what capabilities to acquire before, during, and after a disaster by approaching Access and Functional Needs from a resource perspective.