Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building and Sustaining Preparedness: A National Campaign

Pioneering work done after the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989) where grants were given to community-based organizations to fund activities to enhance preparedness resulted in lessons that have not been remembered nor applied well after Sept. 11, 2001.

Fundamentally, the most important lesson is "make it simple, easy, and a part of everyday life."

When provided 1,000-item lists of "stuff" to buy, or lists of "gotta do's"... more »

There use to be Manual pumps to get gasoline. If we could revise them & put one at various locations then we wouldn't need electricity to get gasoline after storms. It might even be less expensive than generators.

Schools, churches, after school venues and youth organizations are ideal target locations and groups to promote thiscampaign topic nationally. Just like fire safety and fire, tornado and earthquake drills are practiced regularly throughout the school year, national preparedness could be added as well. Young children are like sponges so they are sure to soak up all of this preparedness info. and talk it up at home. Word... more »

Much research has demonstrated that people are bombarded with multiple forms of media. Further, the vast majority of people who use on-line resources use a search engine, like Google. Despite giving them a direct URL to a favored disaster prep info site, people will just search for info on a topic. Think about it, when was the last time you used a bookmark or typed in a direct URL into your web browser?

People find all... more »

When first-responders leave the scene of a disaster, the survivors often become overwhelmed by the trauma, shock, and stress brought about by losing their home or being displaced. The state of chaos created by disasters coupled with the lack of knowledge of what to do in the aftermath makes disaster survivors vulnerable to making uninformed decisions or falling prey to the many pitfalls that accompany post-disaster scenarios.... more »

The first step in a preparedness campaign should be to dtermine the behavior(s) we seek to change. Should it be "have a kit?" "Have a plan?" Perhaps. Suggest the overriding behavior change be self reliance. Suggest we develop a preparedness campaign that promotes self reliance over entitlement and unrealistic expectations.

I am NFPA & IFSAC certified in Fire fighting & First responder.There has got to be a system set up so that we are mobilized through FEMA. Watching Sandy victims when I know we are more than qualified to do what we are trained for.Governor's have data for all their EMA offices & the First responders. We need a central system.This has been the case for years.Organization is not a strong suit for FEMA. Why haven't all EMA... more »

While there are many variations of 72-hour preparedness plans, none are pocket size. "The First 72" could be a basic tri-fold pamphlet (8 1/2 X 11 paper size ... similar to other products FEMA distributes) that could easily fit in a person's pocket or purse. If it was cost-effective, this pamphlet could be laminated for extra durability. This tri-fold style would create six panels; one for a cover and key points and... more »

Wife and I have both taken the Coumminty Emergency responce training. I even took the train the trainer program. above the director of our city teem objection. She toold me I could not take it I told her the state of Missouri said I could. So to get even she will not allow me to teach any classes. So I took on the passion of spreading the work to church or any one who wants to learn. I have found that people think it... more »

Although FEMA response efforts generally focus on life safety matters, in recent years it has been burdened with rebuilding. I believe this happened because there is no one government agency that oversees construction. For example, there are agencies at state level that address workers' comp. There are state agencies that regulate licensing. There are agencies at state and federal level that address fraud. In response... more »

Take advantage of post- incident heightened awareness, focusing on the opportunity to exploit mitigation. Build on marketing or advertising experience thus far “See something, say something” is easy to remember and has borne some fruit and it will likely continue to be useful for suspicious activity and perhaps for some technical/accidental events when there may be warning signs of imminent system failure. I was thinking... more »

The fact that there does not appear to be a rapid response to be able to provide temporary housing in disaster areas where people have lost their homes is not acceptable. We know these disasters are going to continue to happen, and in many cases there is ample warning time to prepare.

We should think about how the armed forces must move and adapt quickly to changing conditions and events, and then applied that to natural... more »

When an area is struck by a disaster the most major thing people are in need of is power for many things from air cleaning and ac to heat and lights for searching for survivors. I am currently working on the composition of a vehicle that can supply volunteers that go into a "Disaster Area" with rechargable power units,lighting,communication units, and several other power reliant sources that are detromental to such "Disaster... more »

It strikes me that the biggest barrier to building and sustaining preparedness is human nature. When incidents happen in rapid succession (example: repeated tornados in the Mid-West) people suffer from burnout/ disaster fatigue. When incidents carry high consequences but low likelihood or long inter-incident intervals, people dismiss the risk as being too remote and unlikely and get complacent. In my opinion, this makes... more »

Over time, we need to shift focus of citizens’ response and recovery expectations from federal level to local and state/territorial/tribe levels (correct public misperceptions and inflated expectations regarding federal role in response and recovery)It is important to educate the general population on concrete steps that can be taken to minimize (mitigate) risk such as strictly enforced building codes, flood insurance... more »