High Alert Institute

Unexpected Solutions for the Unexpected

 

 

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Our Vision

The High Alert Institute, Inc. envisions a world where all people, families, communities, businesses and organizations are disaster ready.

Our Mission

The High Alert Institute helps those not served by municipal, local, county, state, regional or federal programs/agencies to be Disaster Ready.

Our Promise

We will support, promote and when possible, provide:
  • Disaster Education, Planning, and Preparedness for animal owners, animal caretakers, and animal welfare organizations.
  • Disaster Response and Recovery for animal owners, animal caretakers, and animal welfare organizations.
  • Disaster Rescue, Domestic Violence Respite, and Voluntary Surrender for freshwater non-native exotic and ornamental aquatic pets.
  • Shelter for rescued and surrendered freshwater non-native exotic and ornamental aquatic pets.
  • Coordination and Mutual Aid between freshwater non-native exotic and ornamental aquatic pet rescues and shelters in North America.
We will advance:
  • Alignment of Emergency Management and Disaster-Readiness guidance to match best practices in animal care, rescue, conservation, and welfare.
  • Technology to reduce the carbon footprint for aquatic animal care, while increasing the resilience of aquaponic facilities in the face of natural and manmade disasters.
  • Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion Practices in the profession and integrate these as values into our organizational culture.

What we do

Disaster Education & Readiness

Bridging Preparedness Education for Humans and Animals

Mutual Aid & cooperation

Partnering for the Benefit of Animals and Their Humans

AQUATIC PET RESCUE & SHELTER

Caring for Our Finned Friends

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SUPPORT

Sharing the Scientific Truth and Experience

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP & GREEN TECHNOLOGY

Protecting Nature Through Innovation

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS of HEALTH

Raising Awareness of Environmental Health Factors for Humans and Animals

DISASTER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Promoting Mental and Emotional Resilience

THE JOY OF KOI

Healing Through Koi Therapy

WHAT YOU CAN DO

DONATE NOW

PATENTS & INNOVATIONS FOR GOOD

Never Let a Good Idea Go to Waste

DONATE IP

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR GOOD

Make a Difference with Your Eye for Nature

DONATE PHOTOS

BECOME A JOY OF KOI SPONSOR

Give the Gift of Recovery

GIVE JOY NOW

SPONSOR KOI

Enjoy Koi Without a Pond

SPONSOR KOI

ADOPT A KOI

Open Your Home & Heart to a Finned Family Member

ADOPT A KOI

VOLUNTEER

Apply Your Talents to One or More Institute Programs

VOLUNTEER TODAY

BE A FUNDRAISER

Show Us How Fundraising Is Done

START YOUR FUNDRAISER

PARTNER WITH THE INSTITUTE

We Are All More Resilient Together

PARTNER WITH US

SHOPPING FOR GOOD

Do Good While Shopping Online

SMILE NOW

USE INSTITUTE STOCK IMAGES

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words and 3 Bits to the Institute

VIEW OUR PHOTOS

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH SUPPORT

Sharing the Scientific Truth and Experience

The High Alert Institute team has over a century of combined research experience in medical, nursing, behavioral health, and disaster sciences. Our team provides support to researchers and technology developers through comprehensive literature searches and reviews, as well as failure mode database searches and adjudicated reviews.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP & GREEN TECHNOLOGY

Protecting Nature Through Innovation

Our efforts in shelter and rescue are the main focus of our environmental stewardship, reducing the environmental impact of non-native aquatic animals being dumped into public waterways. The High Alert Institute also assists innovators with the design, development, and evaluation of green and renewable energy technologies. Reducing the carbon footprint associated with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery furthers our continued mission to mitigate risk and improve resilience.

DISASTER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Promoting Mental and Emotional Resilience

Disasters disrupt life and impact our sense of personal, family, and community safety. Survivors and responders alike often are not aware of the emotional, psychological or spiritual challenges that they may face from disaster onset through recovery. With two decades of experience training responders and communities to prepare for the behavioral health aspects of disasters, we will continue to provide education and a curated list of resources to groups or individuals.

PATENTS & INNOVATIONS FOR GOOD

Never Let a Good Idea Go to Waste

Did you know that unused patents and copyrights can be donated to charity? Intellectual Property (IP) just sitting on a shelf will lose value as it becomes obsolete. The High Alert Institute IP Donation Program seeks to rescue stranded, technology-related IP with the potential for development into marketable products. Once accepted by the program, the owner/inventor is eligible for a tax deduction equivalent to the fair market value of the IP. The Institute receives the patent licensing fees or revenue from the sale of the IP to businesses, helping us to fund our mission. In turn, businesses are able to advance their markets and create jobs for less money than starting a project from scratch.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR GOOD

Make a Difference with Your Eye for Nature

Professional photographers, amateurs, and legal copywrite holders are all welcome to participate in the High Alert Institute Nature Photo Donation Program. Sales of the images benefit the Institute and donors are eligible for tax deductions equivalent to the fair market value of their photos. Landscapes, seascapes, animals, flowers – all may be accepted – whether new or vintage  images. People may be included in the photo but only if unidentifiable (i.e., blurred figures at a distance).

BECOME A JOY OF KOI SPONSOR

Give the Gift of Recovery

Make your donation twice as nice by rehoming aquatic pets and providing a rehabilitation companion pet to a deserving person, family, or facility. Sponsor part or all of a Joy of Koi Program pond installation – complete with rehomed koi - and give the gifts of love and recovery.

SPONSOR KOI

Enjoy Koi Without a Pond

Have you always wanted a Koi pond but don’t have the space one? Sponsor a Koi in our community shelter pond and we send you photos of your sponsored animal. Coming soon are live Koi Cameras above and below the water to enjoy your sponsored Koi anytime.

ADOPT A KOI

Open Your Home & Heart to a Finned Family Member

Koi need forever homes, too! For pond enthusiasts, freshwater exotic and ornamental fish may not be
available through pet stores or rescues in their area. The High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter
Rehoming Program will be happy to assist you in stocking your new pond or adding a new finned friend
to your school. Coming soon - when you adopt a Koi from the High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter
Rehoming Program, we can arrange for delivery to your door anywhere in the continental United States.

VOLUNTEER

Apply Your Talents to One or More Institute Program

From the staffing pool to the shelter ponds, from the boardroom to the classroom, and from reading the science to writing the analyses, High Alert Institute programs and services benefit from the experience, expertise, and generosity of our volunteers. Put your talents to use for good and to good use - VOLUNTEER TODAY.

BE A FUNDRAISER

Show Us How Fundraising Is Done

Want to share our cause with family, friends, and colleagues? Looking for a non-traditional way to celebrate a birthday or honor someone special? Support the Institute by starting your own Peer-to-Peer fundraising challenge! Let your contacts know why our mission is important to you and what they can do to support your cause. START YOUR OWN FUNDRAISER for the High Alert Institute.

PARTNER WITH THE INSTITUTE

We Are All More Resilient Together

Dumping of freshwater non-native species and exotic aquatic pets into wild habitats is a man-made disaster that is truly preventable. The Institute’s Aquatic Pet Welfare Partnership works to raise awareness and reduce the impact on healthy ecosystems through education, as well as rescue and rehoming. Joined by champions of animal welfare and environmental stewardship, this  association of aquatic pet rescue operations and aquatic pet shelters across the United States aims to save our finned friends and preserve our waterways together.

SHOPPING FOR GOOD

Do Good While Shopping Online

For eligible purchases through AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the High Alert Institute. There is no cost to charitable organizations or to AmazonSmile customers. All you need to do is push the SMILE NOW button and select to support THE HIGH ALERT INSTITUTE on AmazonSmile.

USE INSTITUTE STOCK IMAGES

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words and 3 Bits to the Institute

The High Alert Institute has partnered with Shutterstock to distribute stock images from the nature images donated by our supporters. For eligible stock images, Shutterstock will donate a portion of the royalty to the High Alert Institute. There is no cost to charitable organizations or to Shutterstock customers.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS of HEALTH (SDoH)

Raising Awareness of Environmental Health Factors for Humans and Animals

Non-medical factors that impact overall health are termed Social Determinants of Health or SDoH. Noise pollution, poor air quality, and poor water quality are three environmental factors known to have a strong link to overall health. And the same environmental factors that impact humans impact their pets and other animals in their care. We continue to assist in advocacy, education, and technology development to mitigate the impact of SDoH on humans and animals alike.

MUTUAL AID & COOPERATION

Partnering for the Benefits of Humans and The Animals in Their Care

We partner with public and private organizations, sharing resources and fostering partnerships to improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

AQUATIC PET RESCUE & SHELTER

Caring for Our Finned Friends

When disaster strikes, most aquatic pet owners have limited options to secure the safety of their pets. Sheltering in place may not be possible if there is no power to provide aeration and “pet-friendly” shelters do not include ponds or aquariums. Our goal is to provide an option for aquatic pet owners in need of rescue and shelter for their finned friends.

DISASTER EDUCATION & READINESS

Our goal is to share our two decades of disaster readiness experience with animal welfare organizations,
caretakers, and pet owners, as they implement contingency plans for natural and manmade disasters.