Tools for Community Planners

Understanding community-level strengths and vulnerabilities can help us prepare for emergencies like floods and heat waves. Every community has characteristics that make it more resilient in the face of some hazards and less resilient in the face of others.

Planning tools can be used to focus efforts on the areas at greatest risk or explore why some communities are more affected by a particular hazard. These same tools can also be used when there is a disease outbreak or an emergency to identify populations who may need more help with response and recovery. A community’s strengths and vulnerabilities are influenced by the systemic factors that affect who has access to decision-making power.

You will find a brief description of the Health Department’s planning tools below. Need help deciding which tool to use? Read this table to learn about the pros and cons of each index tool.

Heat Vulnerability in Vermont

screenshot of Vermont Heat Vulnerbaility Index

The Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index draws together 17 different measures of vulnerability in six different themes: population, socioeconomic, health, environmental, climate and heat illness. These measures are combined to measure the overall vulnerability of Vermont towns to heat-related events. This is a first step to identify populations that may be more affected by extreme heat, however local knowledge should always be considered.

The Heat Vulnerability Report provides a description of and reasoning for the methods used to produce the Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index. A summary of the description is also available.

Explore the Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index

Social Vulnerability in Vermont

screenshot of Vermont Social Vulnerbaility Index

Social System Vulnerability indicators show the underlying factors that influence why some communities are more affected by a particular hazard, such as a natural disaster. Vulnerability indicators can serve as planning tools to focus health impact prevention efforts in areas of Vermont at greatest risk. They can also be used to identify populations that may need more help with response and recovery when there is a disease outbreak or other emergency.

The Vermont Social Vulnerability Index draws together 16 different measures of vulnerability in three themes: socioeconomic, demographic and housing/transportation. The user guide provides the methods used to produce the index.

Explore the Vermont Social Vulnerability Index