When disaster strikes and families are relocated to shelters in their community or even further afield, prescription refills and other healthcare needs become more challenging. The Sequoia Project is leading the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE), a nationwide health IT disaster response platform that can be deployed at the city, county or state level to authenticate disaster healthcare volunteer providers. It was conceived by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) following experiences in Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Well-meaning physicians and providers flocked to shelters to help, but the shelters could not confirm medical credentials of the volunteers, and the volunteers could not access evacuee health records. Learn how your community can leverage health IT and existing connectivity in your disaster planning.