Reasons for Lack of Disaster Preparedness

I have seen the issue of lack of preparedness raised in several forums lately. It is often followed by the perception and comments related to “people not taking personal accountability” or the “government not doing enough”, and so on. However, little seems to be focused on the root of the problem. Instead we seem to focus on the adverse impact.

Personally, here is what I believe we continue to overlook in our discussions….that the folks who are affected by disasters are disproportionately our most vulnerable. (Of course we already know this, right?) But consider, what should we be doing to reduce the vulnerability of those in poverty, women, children and those with disabilities as a whole, not just with disaster preparedness?

Unfortunately these issues emerge and become magnified after a disaster .

Case and point…here in the US, before Hurricane Katrina we had a significant portion of the population in that region that were already facing significant challenges and vulnerabilities. When someone is struggling to feed their family, they are not developing a family emergency plan to sustain themselves for 96 hours. It will be this same family that will struggle to find a way to evacuate and recover after the disaster. Someone made the following statement recently, “There is a kind of complacency, certainly an unwillingness to spend the money to be properly prepared” I agree, but is it any surprise when the same complacency exists regarding mitigating human-caused disaster risk to begin with?

Similarly, women are often not part of peace negotiations, post disaster reconstruction, etc. Why? Because they are not invited to the “policy table” before a crisis hits. Disasters only magnify our societal challenges, not cause them. Just my opinion, but I believe we need to expand on successes around engaging women and strengthening their societal role in all settings so there is a place at the table for them following crisis. Moving “lessons learned” and “recommendations” into action is a challenge, but one we must embrace.

Rinse, Lather, Repeat

I recently received information from a colleague, Dr. Maurice Ramirez on a new concept that is essentially a new generation of the old “Stop, Drop and Roll” lesson.  We learned “Stop, Drop and Roll” as kids and it stuck.  When it comes to fire safety and disaster preparedness, it can easily be argued that the message somehow gets lost on us adults or perhaps it’s just a short memory.   (when was the last time you checked your smoke detector…when was the last time you thought of the Gulf Coast region still, very slowly recovering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita???)  

Here’s an excerpt: 

Rinse, Lather, & Repeat: New Training for a New Era

Since educating adults about disaster preparedness is having the same non-reaction as the old fire safety messages that targeted adults, it’s time to shift our educational dollars to what we know works, which is to teach the youngest of Americans—the kindergarteners. That’s where Rinse, Lather and Repeat comes in.  Rinse, Lather, and Repeat is a new program that seeks to duplicate the successes of the National Fire Safety Council’s Stop, Drop, and Roll program. Like its predecessor, Rinse, Lather and Repeat is a one-week educational curriculum for kindergarten-age students that focuses on five core activities: 

1. Preparation and maintenance of a three-day survival pack.
2. Knowledge of where to obtain reliable news and evacuation instructions.
3. Memorizing local and out-of-state phone numbers for friends and family.
4. The location of local shelters and local evacuation routes.
5. The appropriate self-decontamination procedure whether at home or at a hospital or other community facility.

rinse-lather-repeat-article-revised.doc

Read entire article and tell us what you think.