ISO 22395:2018

ISO 22395:2018 - Overview

ISO 22395:2018, "Security and resilience - Community resilience - Guidelines for supporting vulnerable persons in an emergency," provides practical guidance for organizations to identify, involve, communicate with and support individuals who are most vulnerable during natural or human‑induced emergencies. The standard emphasizes community resilience, capacity building and inclusive planning across preparedness, response and recovery. It is intended for local, regional and national governments, statutory bodies, international and non‑governmental organizations, businesses and community groups involved in emergency management.

Key topics and technical requirements

ISO 22395:2018 organizes guidance around actionable processes and covers these main topics:

• Identifying vulnerabilities (Clause 4)
  • Factors (physical, cognitive, cultural, socioeconomic, age, language, location, etc.) that increase emergency risk
  • Methods for population‑level analysis, outreach to hard‑to‑reach groups and voluntary registration systems
• Identifying vulnerable persons and places
  • Mapping likely locations (schools, hospitals, care homes), assessing changing vulnerabilities and prioritizing support needs
• Information sharing (Clause 4.5)
  • Stakeholder relationships, privacy considerations and data sharing for operational decision‑making
• Communicating with vulnerable persons (Clause 5)
  • Tailored messages before, during and after events; media limitations; awareness, skills and training for those working with vulnerable people
• Providing support during emergencies (Clause 6)
  • Practical support, physiological and psychosocial care, assisted movement/travel, and sheltering needs assessment
• Implementation and continual improvement (Clause 7)
  • Planning, execution, monitoring and review for improving support to vulnerable persons

The standard is guidance‑based (not prescriptive), encouraging organizations to adapt practices to local contexts and legal/privacy frameworks.

Practical applications and users

ISO 22395 is useful for:

• Emergency planners designing inclusive emergency preparedness and evacuation plans
• Public health and social care providers coordinating clinical, psychosocial and carer support
• Local authorities and NGOs developing vulnerability registries, communication strategies and sheltering plans
• Businesses and community groups integrating vulnerable persons into continuity and response planning

Practical outputs include tailored communication materials, registration and data‑sharing protocols, training programs for responders and procedures for assessing sheltering and travel assistance.

Related standards

• ISO 22300 (Security and resilience - Vocabulary) - provides terminology used in ISO 22395
• ISO 22319 - guidance on planning involvement of spontaneous volunteers (referenced for volunteer engagement)

Keywords: ISO 22395:2018, community resilience, vulnerable persons, emergency preparedness, emergency response, guidelines, identifying vulnerable persons, communication, information sharing, psychosocial support.