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The `nightmare scenario’ for most emergency planners is not so much that a disaster will strike, but that it will end up being far worse than it could have been, simply because the public was not adequately prepared.
Between having a limited number of responders, a likely degradation of local infrastructure, finite resources, and the widespread impact of many events, officials know that it could take several days to get even limited help to some of those impacted by a major disaster.
Hence the ongoing appeals by FEMA, Ready.gov, local offices of emergency operations, and organizations like the American Red Cross and the APHA for communities, businesses, and families to become better prepared for, and more resilient in the face of, a major emergency.
Between seeing September declared National Preparedness Month each year, a strong push for hurricane preparedness in late May, and numerous earthquake drills (see The Great Shakeout Drill Today) in October of each year, we’ve seen genuine improvement in the nations’ level of preparedness.
Still, a recent Red Cross Hurricane Preparedness poll found only about half who responded had an evacuation plan, 1/3rd had no home disaster supplies, and only about half reported having a family communications plan..
So there remains considerable room for improvement.
This year, Ready.gov & FEMA are introducing a new initiative to get communities and individuals to take concrete steps towards better preparedness. This year, the focus is on some of the more common disaster scenarios; Tornadoes, Wildfires, Floods, and Hurricanes.
The thinking is, if you are prepared for these events, you are probably in pretty good stead to deal with anything.
You can learn how you, your organization, or business can take part in America’s PrepareAthon! below.
America's PrepareAthon! is a an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities to prepare for specific hazards through drills, group discussions, and exercises.
The first National Day of Action is scheduled for April 30, 2014 and will revolve around taking the actions to prepare for these four specific hazards:
Campaign Goals
The goal of this campaign is to increase the number of individuals who:
- Understand which disasters could happen in their community
- Know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage
- Take action to increase their preparedness
- Participate in community resilience planning
What can I do?
- On March 31st, 2014 register to participate in America’s PrepareAthon! and provide details about the activities you’re planning.
- Plan your own local community or organizational preparedness event
- Participate in discussion forums online with like-minded community members
- Learn the actions to take for disaster preparedness and practice them!
Where can I find more information?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talking Points
- 2012 FEMA National Survey Report
- Preparedness in America Report
- Disaster Survivor Video
Stay in Touch
Email: PrepareAthon@fema.dhs.gov
Twitter: @PrepareAthon follow the conversation #PrepareAthon
To move people to action, the President, through Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8), has directed all federal agencies to work with their stakeholders across the country to “coordinate a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness, including public outreach and community-based and private-sector programs to enhance national resilience…”
Last updated: 03/11/2014 - 12:13 PM
For more on emergency preparedness, you may wish to revisit some of these earlier blogs.
