Creating a Resource List for IYCF-E Connections

The best time to create a resource list is during blue sky times — before a disaster strikes. This helps you build the connections and referrals you will need in advance, instead of building them while you are also trying to support families in need with compromised infrastructure.

Keep these contacts well organized. You can add them to your address book, but also using a spreadsheet will make it much easier to use the information you have gathered during an on-the-ground response.

A Spreadsheet Template Option

A template version of the operations spreadsheet used during a major hurricane response is available from the SAFE Infant Feeding Team at safeinfantfeeding.org.

• The Locations tab is the core sheet. It can be used to track resources during blue sky times and then carried directly into an active response.
• A second tab is provided for emergency management contacts.

Save your own copy before editing, and adapt the columns to your area.

Disaster Response & Emergency Services Contacts

Knowing who the key responders are in your area helps you know who to contact in an emergency, and who you can approach now to open a conversation about infant and young child feeding in emergencies.

If you have not done so already, find out how to contact your local (city, county, or regional) emergency preparedness group. Some rural areas may only have an emergency preparedness manager who works with the local healthcare coalition.

Answer these questions, saving the answers and contact people for future use

• Locally, who would assist in disaster and emergency relief? There should be a county or municipal organization, a director of emergency management, a disaster planning group, or something similar. Police, fire, and EMS are also likely to help out.
• Does your area have an emergency healthcare coalition? How can you connect with them? (Hint — in the U.S., all counties are covered by an emergency healthcare coalition.)
• Who are the regional directors or managers of the state-level organizations that would assist in disaster and emergency relief?
• What organizations are involved in emergency preparedness in your area? In addition to government departments, look for hospitals, healthcare professionals, perinatal professionals (doulas, lactation consultants, childbirth educators, etc.), early childcare centers, public health/WIC, and even schools and universities.
• Which state and local VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) groups might support families in an emergency in your area? How can you connect with them now? — Use this directory to find your state or territory VOAD, then search their list for groups active in your area: https://www.nvoad.org/state-territory-voad/

Once you have identified these contacts, in a kind and respectful way, find out

• How does your community respond when an emergency occurs and people are displaced?
• Are there standard group shelters that typically activate?
• Do they use hotels instead, or rely on an outside organization to set up shelters?
• When do they activate?
• How do they handle infant and young child feeding in these situations?
• Are there supports in place for breastfeeding or mixed feeding families?
• Are there separate wash stations for infant feeding items?

Local Blue-Sky Service Organizations

These are organizations — and sometimes individuals — that provide support or services to people in need. For each organization, find and keep track of the following:

• Name of organization
• Physical service address. (We recommend a separate line entry for each service address once you are in active response; you may not need that level of detail while you are still building the list.)
• Whether they plan to be active in the event of a disaster or other emergency.
• Which part of your service area they are located in, indicated by city/town and direction as needed. Having this makes it much easier to build routes during active response, or when visiting sites you have connected with.
• Other contact information: phone number, website, etc.
• A contact person’s name and phone number, and possibly email. You may not get this until you visit them.
• Hours of operation
• Type of services they provide

A direction-labelling convention

During active response it helps to label every site with a consistent geographic tag so routes can be built quickly. One workable convention:

• For sites inside the main city: [YOUR CITY] - direction — Example: Rivertown - north
• For sites in the surrounding metro or outlying towns: DIRECTION/Town Name — Example: EAST/Millfield

Adapt this to how your region is actually organized — corridors, highways, valleys, boroughs, or tribal lands may make more sense than compass directions in some places.

Look for

• WIC & public health
• Community charities
• Food pantries
• Homeless shelters
• Religious organizations with crisis care centers or food pantries
• Nurse-family partnerships and other groups serving parents in the perinatal period
• Other non-profits

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Questions about adapting this guide for your area: info@safeinfantfeeding.org | safeinfantfeeding.org