Communicating potential hazards to homeless populations

This project explores the communication relationship between Canadian emergency planners, homeless service providers and homeless populations. During the literary review, which had a significant amount of content from the United States, three themes emerged. First, emergency managers rely heavily on service providers to communicate with homeless communities. Secondly, service providers require training and assistance from emergency management professionals. Thirdly, there is some uncertainty as to who is responsible for communication with homeless populations in the event of an emergency. Questionnaires were sent to both Canadian emergency managers and service providers across the country (N=30), nine were completed and returned. The data received were compared to the three themes from the literary review and it appears to be consistent. Canadian emergency planners rely heavily on service providers; some service providers need assistance in developing business continuity plans and training on what to do in the event of an emergency; and, there is some confusion as to who is actually responsible for communication with homeless communities in the event of a disaster. Recommendations include further research in order to develop a Canadian document of best practices for emergency planners across Canada.