ISO 22395:2018

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 22395
First edition
2018-10
Security and resilience — Community
resilience — Guidelines for supporting
vulnerable persons in an emergency
Sécurité et résilience — Résilience des communautés — Lignes
directrices pour soutenir la réponse communautaire aux personnes
vulnérables
Reference number
©
ISO 2018
© ISO 2018
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ii © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Identifying vulnerable persons in an emergency . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Identifying types of vulnerabilities . 2
4.3 Identifying vulnerable persons . 3
4.4 Identifying how vulnerable persons can assist others . 3
4.5 Establishing information sharing arrangements . 3
5 Communicating with vulnerable persons in an emergency . 4
5.1 General . 4
5.2 Communicating information for vulnerable persons before, during and after an
emergency . 4
5.3 Understanding the limitations of different media in communicating with
vulnerable persons . 5
5.4 Providing awareness, skills and knowledge on how to work with vulnerable persons . 5
5.5 Making vulnerable persons aware of preparations made by the organization . 5
5.6 Providing information on how vulnerable persons can prepare themselves . 6
5.7 Providing information during an emergency on how vulnerable persons can respond . 6
6 Providing support for vulnerable persons in an emergency . 6
6.1 General . 6
6.2 Providing practical support to vulnerable persons . 7
6.3 Providing physiological support to vulnerable persons . 7
6.4 Providing psychosocial support to vulnerable persons . 8
6.5 Offering practical support to travel away from the affected area . 8
6.6 Determining emergency sheltering needs for vulnerable persons . 8
7 Implementing, reviewing and improving . 9
7.1 General . 9
7.2 Implementing a plan for supporting vulnerable persons . 9
7.3 Reviewing and improving the plan . 9
Bibliography .10
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
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iv © ISO 2018 – All rights reserved

Introduction
This document gives guidelines for identifying individuals who are the most vulnerable to an emergency
and how to include them in the preparation, response and recovery from events, incidents and
emergencies. Emergencies have different effects on people; for example, some individuals will become
less able to anticipate, cope with, resist or recover from the impacts of an emergency. An individual is
not defined as vulnerable by the nature of their vulnerability, but by their personal circumstances at
the time of the emergency. A person’s vulnerability to an emergency is influenced by many factors and
can vary in different environmental, political, cultural and social contexts. It is widely acknowledged
that persons who are vulnerable to an emergency require specific kinds of assistance. However, there
is less understanding and guidance on how to recognize the individuals who are vulnerable in different
emergency situations, and how to support them. This can be because vulnerability changes over time,
so persons move in and out of being vulnerable, even to the same event, incident or emergency. Relevant
factors include age, economic security, language and health, but also the effects of broader processes
such as climate change, international security and national political trends.
In large numbers and in different contexts, vulnerable persons are not always recognized or there are
too many and they could overwhelm emergency response teams. Furthermore, other types of support
structures exist for vulnerable persons, but these might be fractured in an emergency. It is important to
understand and implement best practices for recognizing and including vulnerable persons in all phases
of emergency preparedness, response and recovery. In particular, this requires an understanding of
what creates vulnerability in order to ensure persons are not overlooked or more negatively impacted
through the management of emergencies.
This document emphasizes capacity building and community resilience. It recognizes that vulnerable
persons and their representatives are key stakeholders and planning partners. It considers
the preparatory measures for involving vulnerable persons in decisions made about providing
assistance before, during and after an emergency, the planning required to engage vulnerable persons
and their representatives, and the ways in which including vulnerable persons will help to increase
understanding about those vulnerabilities and contribute towards their personal well-being during an
emergency.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 22395:2018(E)
Security and resilience — Community resilience —
Guidelines for supporting vulnerable persons in an
emergency
1 Scope
This document gives guidelines for organizations to identify, involve, communicate with and support
individuals who are the most vulnerable to natural and human-induced (both intentional and
unintentional) emergencies. It also includes guidelines for continually improving the provision of
support to vulnerable persons in an emergency.
It is intended for use by organizations with the responsibility for, or involvement in, part or all of the
planning for working with vulnerable persons in an emergency.
It is applicable to all types and sizes of organizations involved in emergency preparation, response and
recovery activities, such as local, regional and national governments; statutory bodies; international
and non-governmental organizations; businesses; and public and community groups.
The focus of this document is on vulnerable individuals and their needs in relation to an emergency.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 22300, Security and resilience — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 22300 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http: //www .electropedia .org/
3.1
carer
individual who provides support to a vulnerable person (3.2)
Note 1 to entry: Carers can be paid or unpaid providers of care.
3.2
vulnerable person
individual who might be less able to anticipate, cope with, resist or recover from the impacts of an
emergency
Note 1 to entry: In this document, a vulnerable person is not defined by the nature of the vulnerability but by
their personal circumstances at the time of the emergency.
4 Identifying vulnerable persons in an emergency
4.1 General
The general aspects to be addressed when considering vulnerable persons in an emergency are
— identifying types of vulnerabilities (4.2),
— identifying vulnerable persons (4.3),
— identifying how vulnerable persons could assist others (4.4), and
— establishing information sharing arrangements (4.5).
An organization may implement all clauses of this document or only some clauses. Partial
implementation of this document could still improve the organization’s performance.
4.2 Identifying types of vulnerabilities
The organization should
— identify the contributing factors that make some individuals vulnerable to an emergency (e.g.
physical, mental, emotional, cognitive, cultural, ethnicity, religion, language, citizenship, location,
socioecono
...