The resilience of households directly impacts the resilience of a community. The network diagram above shows, the needs of households drive the daily business operations of the community – they require and consume food, water, pharmaceuticals, medical goods, power, fuel and other services.
Community lifelines are the integrated network of assets, services, and capabilities that are used day-to-day to support the recurring needs of the community. These lifelines enables the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and is essential to human health and safety or economic security.
Deliberate partnership between the private and public elements of that network can help keep households resilient – which in turn increases the resilience of the community.
community-Lifelines needs assessment overview
Identify and Assemble a Diverse Community Team
Identify the Scope of the Assessment
Develop Community Engagement Plan
Conduct Community Needs Assessment
Identify Assets and Needs
Create a Community Action Plan
community-Lifelines needs assessment
A Community-Lifelines Needs Assessment (CLNA) is a process conducted to identify and determine the available resources to address the unmet needs of the community’s most vulnerable populations. The CNA is used to implement programs and services used to improve or build capacity and capabilities and strengthen individual and community resilience.
There are several reasons why citizen groups, public officials, and local government staff should secure accurate information about the needs of a community. All communities are in a continual state of change -- through births and deaths of citizens, through people moving out and new people moving in, and through the natural growth and development of the community over time. Consequently, what once may have been an appropriate policy or program can eventually become inappropriate. The character or attitude of a community can shift because of the interplay of social, cultural, and economic changes.
A community needs assessment process is an excellent means of involving the public in problem solving and developing local goals. There is a tendency for people to resist change, frequently because they have inadequate information, or because they have not been involved in making decisions. A needs assessment can be viewed as a process of citizen involvement to allow people not only to learn more about the current situation, but most importantly, to feel that they have had a voice in the outcome.
A needs assessment process can help local leaders:
- Identify needs for new or expanded public facilities or services;
- Assess public opinion about community goals and priorities;
- Systematically evaluate existing programs and services and planning for improvements;
- Provide justifications or explanations for budget and grant requests;
- Increase citizen understanding of community problems and their effects on the community;
- Build an increased citizen support for local government decisions, and develop a greater "sense of ownership" through public involvement;
- Increase citizen awareness of community planning.
Community Lifelines
Why We Use Community Lifelines
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created Community Lifelines to reframe incident information, understand and communicate incident impacts using plain language, and promote unity of effort across the whole community to prioritize efforts to stabilize the lifelines during incident response.
- A lifeline enables the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and is essential to human health and safety or economic security.
- Lifelines are the most fundamental services in the community that, when stabilized, enable all other aspects of society to function.
- FEMA has developed a construct for objectives-based response that prioritizes the rapid stabilization of Community Lifelines after a disaster.
- The integrated network of assets, services, and capabilities that provide lifeline services are used day-to-day to support the recurring needs of the community and enable all other aspects of society to function.
- When disrupted, decisive intervention (e.g., rapid re-establishment or employment of contingency response solutions) is required to stabilize the incident.
While lifelines were developed to support response planning and operations, the concept can be applied across the entire preparedness cycle. Efforts to protect lifelines, prevent and mitigate potential impacts to them, and building back stronger and smarter during recovery will drive overall resilience in our neighborhoods, communities and our nation.
Community Lifelines
Safety and Security
This lifeline covers responder and survivor safety and the continuity of government (including basic services, firefighting, law enforcement/security, Search and Rescue, and Community Safety).
Food, Water, Shelter
This lifeline covers not only traditional feeding and hydration services, which are routinely paired with sheltering (hence the grouping of components in this lifeline), but it also includes water and agricultural infrastructure that is closely tied.
Health and Medical
Energy (Power & Fuel)
This lifeline covers all aspects of medical services required during an incident, including survivor care, fatality management, public health, and the medical supply chain.
Energy (Power & Fuel)
Energy (Power & Fuel)
Energy (Power & Fuel)
This lifeline is focused on only electricity and fuel, which are both essential to a successful response operation.
Communications
Energy (Power & Fuel)
Communications
This lifeline covers all types of communications necessary to effectively respond to and help survivors, in addition to banking and electronic payment needs.
Transportation
Energy (Power & Fuel)
Communications
This lifeline covers all forms of transportation of people and resources to and from the incident.
Hazardous Materials
This lifeline covers the management (including containment and removal) of all hazardous materials.
Government Services
This lifeline covers government services for distribution support of life sustaining commodities and coordination of wrap around services for survivors during and after a disaster.