In February 2003 the US Homeland Security Department launched the Ready campaign. It is a national public service advertising campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural and technological disasters and potential terrorist attacks. The goal of the national campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.

ReadyWisconsin is our state’s counterpart to the national campaign. ReadyWisconsin asks individuals to do four key things:

• Get an emergency supply kit
• Make a family emergency plan
• Be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses
• Get involved in emergency preparedness and response in their own communities

The ReadyWisconsin campaign, launched in September 2008, is a joint initiative of Wisconsin Emergency Management and the Wisconsin Citizen Corps. It is funded by US Homeland Security. The project localizes the citizen preparedness message with information, materials and resources customized to Wisconsin’s state, regional and local emergency preparedness landscape.

In addition to customizing existing Ready materials, ReadyWisconsin creates an abundance of new materials such as:

• Hazard-specific fact sheets for both adults and children, with puzzles, games and other original materials
• Localized hazard-specific public service announcements
• Posters

Unlike the national Ready resources, all ReadyWisconsin materials can be replicated and branded by counties and volunteer organizations.

ReadyWisconsin serves as a one-stop shop for citizen preparedness information by also providing links to other relevant national, state and volunteer agencies.

To learn more about ReadyWisconsin, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page.