How The Ready Rating Program Works

The American Red Cross Ready Rating program is a free, self-guided program designed to help businesses, organizations and schools become better prepared for emergencies. Members complete a ReadyGo or ReadyAdvance assessment and have access to tools, tips and best practices to help improve their level of preparedness.  Are you new to Ready Rating?  Check out the link below for immediate access to help videos about the program enhancements.

Membership in the Ready Rating program is simple. Here is how it works:

     1.  Join the Ready Rating Program 

    • Review the terms and conditions of membership and create an online profile.

     2.  Take an Assessment

    • This comprehensive assessment will help you to put all of your preparedness ‘ducks’ in a row. Your baseline assessment will be used to measure improvement at the end of the year.
    • The assessment consists of 5 sections that score emergency preparedness efforts in terms of commitment, knowledge of hazard vulnerability, emergency planning, plan implementation and community resiliency, which are the essentials of preparedness. Learn more… 

     3.  Create an Emergency Action Plan

    • Use a powerful EAP template generator to create an OSHA-compliant Emergency Action plan for your organization​

    4.  Improve Your Level of Preparedness 

    • Take advantage of the detailed program guide and best practice tips available to members.
    • Conduct drills and exercises to test your plans.
    • Implement training programs, achieve certifications, etc.

 5.  Continue the Cycle of Assessing and Planning 

    • Remember, preparedness is a journey, not a destination.

The Red Cross Ready Rating Go and Advance Assessment tools are the result of a comprehensive review of preparedness recommendations conducted by the American Red Cross National Office of Preparedness and Health and Safety Services, the national Ready Rating team, and the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. All Ready Rating program steps and recommendations are grounded in scientific research, best practices and/or expert opinion from respected professionals representing multiple disciplines and perspectives.

Participation

This step indicates your commitment to increasing your business’ or organization’s level of emergency preparedness during the course of the calendar year. You will be working to make your business or organization more prepared and to enhance overall community preparedness. Key actions for this step include:

  • Having your business or organization make preparedness a priority by having senior leadership involved
  • Appointing a Ready Rating liaison dedicated to completing the ReadyGo or ReadyAdvance Assessment

Emergency Planning

This step involves gathering information about possible emergencies that could impact your business and your facility’s capabilities to respond to and recover from a disaster or other emergency. Key actions for this step include:

  • Knowing your region and the types of disasters most likely to impact your business
  • Obtaining a Hazard Vulnerability Assessment from your local emergency management agency
  • Considering which hazards your facility is most likely to experience, based on proximity and past events
  • Knowing your business or organization’s current capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from a disaster
  • Assessing the physical capacity, supplies, equipment and human resources of your facility to resist damage during a disaster

Develop an emergency action plan (EAP)

An emergency response plan describes the steps your business or organization will take to protect your business and employees before, during and after an emergency. Key actions for this step include:

  • Identifying an emergency planning committee that is responsible for developing and implementing an emergency response plan
  • Developing a written plan describing how your business or organization will respond during a disaster or medical emergency. Ready Rating members have access to a powerful EAP template generator which will assist you in developing an OSHA-compliant EAP.
  • Creating a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)

Implement your EAP

This step involves continuing to work with the planning committee to implement the emergency response plan with employees. The key to implementing the plan is to make preparedness a part of the corporate culture. Key actions for this step include:

  • Training employees on a regular basis about what to do during a disaster or emergency
  • Acquiring and maintaining needed safety equipment and emergency preparedness supplies
  • Showing employees how to be prepared at work and at home so they are better equipped to help the business respond to and recover from an emergency
  • Conducting and assessing regular drills and exercises to determine the readiness of your employees and facilities

Help your community get prepared

Now that your company and employees are prepared, make at least one additional commitment to ensure that the overall community is prepared for a disaster or other emergency. Key actions for this step include:

  • Hosting blood drives
  • Contributing supplies and/or services to emergency response efforts
  • Adopting a local school or school district and support their disaster and emergency preparedness programs

 Is Your Business Prepared?

  • 15-40 percent of businesses fail following a natural or manmade disaster.1
  • 94 percent of small business owners believe a disaster could seriously disrupt their business within the next two years.2
  • 51 percent of Americans have experienced at least one emergency situation where they lost utilities for at least three days, had to evacuate and could not return home, could not communicate with family members or had to provide first aid to others.3

Are Your Employees Ready?

  • Only 2 in 10 Americans feel prepared for a catastrophic event.4
  • Close to 60 percent of Americans are wholly unprepared for a disaster of any kind.4
  • 54 percent of Americans don’t prepare because they believe a disaster will not affect them.5
  • Only 1 in 10 American households has taken the appropriate preparedness steps: a family emergency plan, an emergency supply kit and training in First Aid and CPR/AED.4
  • 82 percent of Americans agree “If someone could make it easy for me to be prepared, I’d do it”.4

Emergencies Are Inevitable.

The Ready Rating program is designed to help your business or organization get better prepared for emergencies.

Sources: 1 Insurance Information Institute, 2000, 2 American Red Cross and FedEx Small Business Survey, 2007, 3 American Red Cross/Harris Poll Survey, 2009, 4 American Red Cross Preparedness Survey, 2006, 5 The Aftershock of Katrina and Rita: Public Not Moved to Prepare, 2005

FAQs

Answer: No, there is no cost for membership. Members are only financially responsible for costs incurred to improve their preparedness.

Answer: The Red Cross Ready Rating program provides a framework designed to: 1) Help businesses, organizations, and schools become prepared for emergencies; 2) Help increase the level of preparedness among individuals and families; and 3) Encourage businesses, schools and organizations to help their local communities prepare for emergencies.

Answer: This program does more than provide useful emergency preparedness information. The Ready Rating Assessments and Membership Seal make emergency preparedness measurable and visible, bringing concrete elements to an expansive framework. Additionally, the American Red Cross can provide a number of services to enhance emergency preparedness efforts that your organization undertakes.

Answer: The Ready Rating Seal is a visible statement that a member organization, business or school has committed to improving their level of preparedness by participating in the Ready Rating program. In adherence with Red Cross guidelines, members can also publicly display the Ready Rating Seal to show their commitment to preparedness.

Answer: Any business, school, or organization who is committed to improving their emergency preparedness is welcomed and encouraged to join the Ready Rating program.

Answer: The Red Cross employed a powerful combination of research and practical experience to create a program to address the important components of preparedness. The Ready Rating program not only provides members with helpful information — it also recognizes members for their efforts.

Answer: For over 125 years, the American Red Cross has responded to emergencies both large and small, and helped people prepare for them through education and training programs. The Red Cross continuously builds on its experience to proactively deal with emergencies and disasters; this program is a step forward in our ongoing efforts.

Answer: The American Red Cross’ most recent research shows that more than half of Americans say they don’t feel prepared for an everyday emergency, let alone a catastrophe. Because emergencies can happen at any time, there is a constant need to prepare for emergencies.

Answer: No. The American Red Cross is not a government agency and depends on the efforts of thousands of volunteers and donors to provide a wide range of community support services, including disaster relief, First-Aid, CPR/AED and water safety training, services to military personnel, international services and support for blood services.

Answer:  For questions or issues related to forgotten passwords or usernames, access to assessment data or any other technical issue with the site, please contact a team member or submit a direct support ticket.