America's PrepareAthon!

America's PrepareAthon!
Name	America's PrepareAthon!
Formation	2013
Purpose	Community preparedness and disaster resilience
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Parent organization	Federal Emergency Management Agency

America's PrepareAthon! is a national community preparedness campaign focused on increasing disaster resilience through drills, exercises, and public education. Launched by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate local, state, and national readiness activities, the campaign emphasizes hazard-specific practice for floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and tornadoes. It connects civic organizations, emergency managers, and public institutions to encourage regular mitigation and response actions before crises occur.

Overview

America's PrepareAthon! promotes targeted preparedness actions across municipalities, counties, and tribal nations, aligning activities with hazard maps and risk assessments produced by agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The campaign fosters collaboration among institutions including the Department of Homeland Security, the American Red Cross, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the National Governors Association while integrating guidance from technical partners like the National Weather Service, the United States Fire Administration, and the National Hurricane Center. Its outreach model appeals to stakeholders ranging from the American Planning Association to the International Association of Emergency Managers, and it draws on incident management principles from organizations such as the Incident Command System training institutions and the National Incident Management System implementation offices.

History and Development

Developed under directives from the Presidential Policy Directive 8 era, the campaign originated within the FEMA preparedness division after lessons learned from events including Hurricane Sandy, the Great East Japan Earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the Northridge earthquake. Initial pilots engaged metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami-Dade County, and partnerships were formed with nonprofit entities such as Feeding America and United Way of America. Over time, the program expanded alongside federal initiatives like the National Preparedness Goal and allied efforts including the Community Emergency Response Team program, drawing comparisons to international campaigns such as the Get Ready programs in the United Kingdom and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction processes led by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Programs and Activities

Programming emphasizes simple, repeatable actions: multi-hazard drills, household planning, workplace continuity exercises, and community evacuation rehearsals modeled on guidance from the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency for hazardous materials incidents. Activities range from school safety exercises with districts like Los Angeles Unified School District and New York City Department of Education to university continuity planning at institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sector-specific exercises include hospital surge planning with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and shelter operations coordinated with the American Hospital Association and Salvation Army disaster services. Technology partners including Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, and IBM have supported digital preparedness tools, while media collaborations with outlets like National Public Radio and The Weather Channel increase public visibility.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding and operational coordination involve federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Small Business Administration, with programmatic support from foundations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for community resilience projects. Corporate donors and philanthropic partners like Walmart, Walgreens Boots Alliance, The Coca-Cola Company, and Target Corporation have participated in product donations and logistics. Academic partners such as Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Stanford University, and University of Michigan contribute research and evaluation. Collaborative networks include the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and state emergency management agencies in jurisdictions like California Office of Emergency Services, Texas Division of Emergency Management, and Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Impact and Evaluation

Evaluation draws on metrics used by the Government Accountability Office and the National Academy of Sciences to assess community preparedness outcomes, with case studies examining implementation in jurisdictions affected by Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Harvey, Superstorm Sandy, and the California Camp Fire. Research published by centers such as the RAND Corporation, the Natural Hazards Center, and the Urban Institute has tracked behavioral changes, drill participation rates, and improvements in emergency plans for schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure operators including Amtrak, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and major utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Con Edison. Metrics often include household kit ownership, emergency contact plan completion, and public awareness measured in surveys by the Pew Research Center and Kaiser Family Foundation.

Criticism and Controversies

Critiques have come from civil society organizations such as ACLU affiliates, advocacy groups like Public Citizen, and scholarship from researchers at Princeton University and University of California, Los Angeles regarding equity of outreach to marginalized communities, linguistic access, and the adequacy of resources for low-income populations. Debates reference lessons from events including the Katrina Hurricane response and policy analyses by the Brookings Institution and Center for American Progress about federal-local coordination and funding sustainability. Other controversies involve perceived corporate influence when private-sector logistics partners from Amazon (company), FedEx, and UPS participate in public preparedness exercises, and questions about the robustness of evaluation standards raised by the Office of Management and Budget and peer reviewers from the American Evaluation Association.

Category:Emergency preparedness organizations