The increase in unpredictable natural disasters events for a decade has led to put the disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disaster is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et.al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live in a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% take a preparation for natural disaster (Ripley, 2006).
This lack of preparation takes place in different places and involves different hazards. In the case of hurricane, only half of all respondents living in Central Florida have hurricane evacuation plan in place (Kapucu, 2008). Another finding revealed that only 8 percent of all respondent have prepared a disaster supplies kit in home. Kenny (2009) found that most residents in South Florida, hurricane-prone area, failed to take preparatory measures such as securing bottled water and food when storms strike. In another place and a different hazard, the result of study demonstrated the same finding. Paton and Prior (2008) studied bushfire preparation in Tasmania show that most respondents had undertaken some form of protective behavior only minimal and limited. They started to prepare after they were warned by disaster emergency services.
According to Nakagawa (2009) people are reluctant to take action by spending money and time because they perceived some disasters have low probability. Earthquake, for instance, due to difficult to predict, in many cases people tend to neglect preparing earthquake risk. In a survey in 1974, Kenny (2009) concluded that only 12 percent respondents in California households have taken action measure preventing earthquakes. However, Nakagawa (2009) also noted that although people living in frequently natural disaster such as floods and typhoons, they do not take a proper action. For example, only 10% people had evacuated to safer locations when the Tokage typhoon hit Japan, in Toyooka city.
Some argued that level of preparedness is most likely affected by direct experience of the disaster (Tierney, 1993).
Drea Knufken’s thesis statement is that “As a society, we’ve acquired an immunity to crisis” (510-512). This means that humans in general, or citizens of the world, have become completely desensitized to disasters, we think of them as just another headline, without any understanding of their impact upon fellow
Schmidt, C. K., Davis, J. M., Sanders, J. L., Chapman, L. A., Cisco, M. C., and Hady, A. R. (2011). Exploring Nursing Students’ Level of Preparedness for Disaster Response. Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(6), 380-383. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/docview/920892622/fulltextPDF/F759D54F8924633PQ/1?accountid=158614
Assessing threat is critical because it provides an understanding of what is likely to happen (May & Williams, 2012). Hence the organization prepares by determining the resource requirement. Also, evaluating a risk before it occurs, presents an organization with viable alternatives for managing the immediate and long-term effects of the situation. Planning ahead and being prepared is key to protecting public safety. Preparedness and planning are also essential for safeguarding the health of the
Pre impact conditions mixed with event specific conditions combined with one another during a disaster produce physical and social impacts to a community. The impact from each disaster can be reduced by interventions through emergency management. By assessing these pre impact conditions, an emergency manager can produce social risks and vulnerabilities within their community. Integrating these social risks and vulnerabilities emergency mangers can use the four most important phases in emergency management: preparedness, planning, response, and recovery to benefit their community as a whole.
Communities must come together in order to be aware of the steps that must be taken to reduce or prevent risk. “The guidance, programs, processes, and systems that support each component of the National Preparedness System enable a collaborative, whole community approach to national preparedness that engages individuals, families, communities, private and nonprofit sectors, faith based organizations and all levels of government.” (FEMA, 2011). Resources within a community are prioritized and customized based on community-based issues and local security programs. The resources used as the front line of defense are first responders, such as police officers, firefighters and medical personnel. The resources are provided and prioritized based on the priority of threat and risks to a specific community. Therefore, the threats and risks targeted towards a community must be analyzed and acknowledged in order to apply the correct resources to the opposing prioritized threats. Disasters and emergencies typically begin at the local level and eventually require resources from state and federal
Both man-made and natural disasters are often devastating, resource draining and disruptive. Having a basic plan ready for these types of disaster events is key to the success of executing and implementing, as well as assessing the aftermath. There are many different ways to create an emergency operations plan (EOP) to encompass a natural and/or man-made disaster, including following the six stage planning process, collection of information, and identification of threats and hazards. The most important aspect of the US emergency management system in preparing for, mitigating, and responding to man-made and natural disasters is the creation, implementation and assessment of a community’s EOP.
1). Resilience refers to the ability to prepare, plan, absorb, recover and more successfully adapt to adverse events. It is determined by the degree to which individuals, communities and organization can organize themselves to learn from the past disasters and reduce their risks to future ones Resilience is increased by emergency management planning that is based on risks, the relationship has been identified from the four phases of emergency management. Mitigation involves actions that are undertaken in advance to avoid risks such as loss of life and property, in this case the community is more resilient to an immediate emergency issue (World Resilience Emergency Management,2017). Preparedness involves training, education and sharing of information
Following the assessment completed by the National Science Foundation, it becomes apparent that a paradigm shift is necessary to bridge the many gaps in emergency management to include the physical, human, and constructed systems. In an ideal scenario, it was discussed by Mileti (1999) that disaster preparedness and response would be dealt with in the most efficient manner possible thereby reducing its social, political and economical impact; however, that was not the reality then and it is not certainly not the reality today. In today’s world, natural disasters are less discriminating and can strike localities out of what is generally expected, leaving some vulnerable and ill-equipped to response. According to researcher and Professor Robert Schneider (2002), each locality must be have the flexibility to address a wide variety of disasters that both common and uncommon to the area. This was the case with the recent winter storm that crippled parts of the South unprepared to adequately respond, leaving commuters trapped in a massive gridlock in Atlanta. Another example includes Hurricane Sandy and the devastation left behind in New Jersey and parts of New York City, where the magnitude and breath of the storm was a rare event. Such incidents bring to light the need for an overarching and Comprehensive Emergency Management approach to hazard mitigation. The aftermath of the events that occurred recently and in parts of the Northeast illustrates not only the economic loss but rather the loss of confidence and morale during such troubling times. Furthermore, there are those hazards such as droughts and heat waves that are felt gradually and quietly thus falsely lessening their potential for damage until damage has been done and the i...
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
Minority ethnic communities are more vulnerable to public health disasters because of economic disadvantages, cultural differences and limited resources.The article being reviewed is titled, “Using the Precaution Adoption Process Model to Describe a Disaster Preparedness Intervention Among Low-income Latinos” (2014). The target population of the study is low-income Latino communities in Los Angeles County where 187 participants that were chosen by respondent- driven sampling. The participants were recruited by a sample of seven people called “seeds,” who were at least 18 years old and had emigrated from South or Central America and lived in Los Angeles to represent the types of people to be recruited in the study. These seeds came from a diverse set of countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. In addition, the purpose of the study was to create an intervention that explains disaster preparedness within low-income Latino communities. They wanted to provide health education and training to encourage household members to learn about disasters and disaster
There has been a great deal of changes regarding emergency management since the time it was originally started over 30 years ago. Its evolvement has been as a direct result of learning from mistakes and a desire to have a strong process in line to help our nation handle disasters quickly and efficiently. Many people may believe that being prepared is all that it takes to get through a disaster; however, this could not be further form the truth. Preparedness does indeed play a huge role in managing disasters, but what other key factors should we pay attention to?
After such horrific tragedies such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Americans have learned to become more aware of their surroundings. Some have even felt the need to be more prepared in the event of an unexpected catastrophe. In 2012, three millions Americans fell into the category known as a survivalist. (UK Daily Mail). Survivalist are “comprised of various age groups, social statuses, political beliefs, and all ethnicities and philosophical outlooks” (theprepperjournal.com).Survivalist invest a subsequent amount of their income to prepare for the unexpected. It is also estimated that 300,000 people frequently visit websites such as “survivalblog.com” to keep up-to-date with popular trends in their field of interest.
...but with further research and statistics on evaluating the way individuals respond to fires is an ongoing learning experience that will continue to be a concern. With a growing number of deaths in fire related events it raises the question, do people think rationally or irrationally when a fire outbreaks? Just to think about it, the individual could act in accordance to a fire situation but if the tools needed are not available the person could be left with severe injuries or even death.
Those are the words ringing all through September’s National Preparedness Month. As FEMA noted, 70 percent of Americans haven’t practiced or prepared for a disaster. Additionally, those with disabilities find themselves at a historically greater risk during a disaster. For families and individuals alike, most don’t think about floods, wildfires, hurricanes, power outages and other disasters that could come into their lives virtually unexpected. However, news of disasters striking throughout the world remains a mainstay on the news.
Of the four phases of emergency management, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, perhaps the place that individuals can make the biggest difference in their own state of resiliency and survival of a disaster is in the preparedness phase. Being prepared before a disaster strikes makes sense yet many people fail to take even simple, precautionary steps to reduce the consequences of destruction and mayhem produced by natural events such as earthquakes, volcanos and tornados (see Paton et al, 2001, Mileti and Peek, 2002; Tierney, 1993, Tierney et al, 2001).