Disaster Preparedness and Response Readiness Survey

Thanks for taking a few minutes to help us strengthen (Replace with your organization/community name)'s disaster preparedness. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymized. Please think of the most recent emergency drill or real disaster you experienced. This will take about 5-6 minutes and your honest answers matter most.

Which of the following best describes your most recent experience with an emergency or disaster event in the past 12 months?

• A real disaster or emergency (e.g., fire, flood, storm, earthquake)
• A scheduled emergency drill or exercise
• Both a real event and a drill
• Neither - no experience in the past 12 months

Before that event or drill began, how prepared did you feel to respond appropriately?

Thinking about that same event, how would you rate each of the following?

At the time of the event, did you know your designated evacuation route or emergency assembly point?

• Yes, clearly
• Somewhat, but I hesitated
• No, I did not know
• Not applicable - no evacuation was required

How would you rate the clarity of the emergency alerts you received (text, siren, app notification, PA announcement, etc.)?

Which of these improvements would matter most to your safety and confidence in a future emergency? Choose the most and least important each round.

• Faster alert and warning systems
• Clearer evacuation signage and routes
• More frequent emergency drills
• Better-stocked emergency supplies and shelters
• Improved communication from leadership during events
• Stronger coordination with local emergency services
• More accessible support for people with mobility or health needs
• Better post-disaster recovery and support resources

If you had 100 points to invest in improving disaster readiness, how would you split them across these areas?

• Alert and warning systems
• Training and drills
• Physical infrastructure (shelters, signage, exits)
• Communication tools and coordination
• Post-disaster recovery and support services

Reconstruct exactly what happened for this respondent during the specific event or drill they described: what alert or instruction they first received, what they did step by step, and where confusion or delay occurred. If they said they didn't know their evacuation route or rated communication poorly, probe concretely what information was missing and what would have changed their behavior in the moment.

What is the one change that would have most improved your confidence or safety during that event?

Which best describes your role during emergencies at your organization or community?

• General staff/resident with no formal emergency role
• Designated warden, marshal, or first responder
• Facilities, safety, or emergency management staff
• Manager or leadership responsible for coordinating response
• Prefer not to say

Which site, building, or region were you in during that event? (Optional - helps us localize improvements)

Thank you for sharing your experience. Your answers will feed directly into updating our emergency alerts, drills, and response procedures - no individual responses will be shared outside the safety team.