1. What do you think of the disaster kit? Does everything on the list seem necessary or do you think it's a little excessive? Is it something that you think many people actually keep in their homes? If not, why don't they and should we as health educators be using this list while talking to people about the importance of being prepared for an emergency?
2. How well prepared do you think your community is for a disaster? How can we as health educators improve this?
3. How do you think we respond to disasters on a national level? Do you think this is an area that needs improvement? If so, how do we use our role as health educators to improve this?
Great blog you guys, very informative!
ReplyDeleteI had never seen a recommended list of items for a disaster kit and felt kind of overwhelmed when I did. I think that FEMA has undoubtedly gone somewhat above-and-beyond when making this list but only because they want to make sure people can survive until further services are available to them. It does seem a little excessive to me, as someone from a coastal town in Maine who's never experienced a tornado, earthquake, etc. Even though this would be more work, I think FEMA could make recommended lists for different areas that could experience certain disasters. Maine's could include items needed for an ice storm, blizzards, coastal flooding and other things of that nature. I don't know many people personally that keep a disaster kit handy and I think it's because people don't often think anything will happen to them. I definitely think it's a good idea as health educators to talk to people about the importance of being prepared for an emergency.
I'm not sure how prepared my community is. As I mentioned, my town is on the coast so when big storms come there's always talk about coastal flooding and eroding beach. Unfortunately I think that's about it.
For this last question I'm sure just about everyone will think of the response to Hurricane Katrina and have negative feelings towards it. I think different measures could have been taken to get services down to the area quicker but I don't think we should dwell on it - just learn from it and be better prepared for next time.
I agree the list seemed a bit overwhelming! I really like your point Kat that FEMA could construct different types of disaster kits for different areas/disasters. Many homes in our area lack a fully stocked first aid kit never mind a complete list of the recommended items! But this may be different in other areas where they experience more disasters than we do in Maine. Our focal points will certainly change along with the area we are assisting as health educators, so that is something to also take into account.
ReplyDeleteLooking back on the Ice Storm we experienced in 1997 (I think) our community wasn't as completely prepared as they could have been but since then (taking that as a lesson) they have certainly changed. And due to different deaths that happened during that time, the education of do/don’ts in a natural disaster has increased by a lot (don't use a propane grill inside your home)! As health educators it is our responsibility to make sure the education stays where it should and it doesn't take another lesson for the community to prepare themselves properly.
On a personal level because of that, many people took measures to better prepare their homes, such as purchasing generators.
I feel the disaster kit is quite interesting... Most people would never think of implementing such a tool in their home/life. Some works have disaster kits (but mostly first aid kits/ disaster plans). I feel that such a tool would be beneficial, but the funny thing is (maybe not too funny) many families do not have enough food for 7 days. This is true even in the large cities where people shop on a daily basis or only dine out. I know there is not much food in my house, so I would not be in the best preparedness for a disaster.
ReplyDeleteThere are disaster preparedness classes through mny work, but they are to deal with insurance claims... Usually just kits on what appropriate contact numbers exist. We should implement a better safety plan for our work and home lives.
I will have to do some thinking about implementing such a kit in my home... It would take up space, and seems like a little much - but would be beneficial in the event of a disaster....
I really like what Kat and Justine had to say about having disaster kits for specific areas. I think this would cut down on what has to be in the kit. That might make it more convenient for people to actually keep this in their homes. As Rob said, many families don't have enough food for seven days, never mind an extra seven days worth of food. An extra seven days worth of food takes up lots of space. I know for my family having all the extra bottled water would be an issue because there are 10 people in my family. That's 70 gallons of extra water hanging around waiting for a disaster in addition to all the other stuff on the list. Of course water is very important and probably not something that should be taken off the list for any region, but it would definitely be helpful to cut down on some of the other things on the list.
ReplyDeleteII feel that responding to disasters on a national level is something of interest... As we have seen with past disasters, some areas like New Orleans are not handled well. Though this may have issues of class and race, it is still proof of mismanaged aid and disaster preparedness. In such circumstances, individual lives are either valued or devalued as seen with New Orleans. Some people were cared for at different levels on different class levels. I feel that there needs to not be any disparancies between the classes in trying to save lives or providing aid.
ReplyDeleteThe national level needs to look at programming and take quicker and more diligent action for the betterment of lives. Certainly most of these individuals did not have disaster preparedness packages, and in this case, I don’t know how beneficial they would have been!
I know that people at the national level are working hard, but I wonder what type of work can be expanded on… What type of training can be implemented that teaches people to look beyond racial and class based lines? Only then could be see more appropriate disaster care that takes in mind all individual lives.
RS
Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteI think that the disaster kit was a little excessive, but probably very necessary for many people that have faced/dealt with a disaster of any kind. I think it may be kind of hard to fit all of those supplies into one back pack. And it also may be unrealistic to be carrying that much stuff around when on the run from any type of disaster.
As far as our community being prepared for a disaster, I'm not sure that we are ready for tornados, hurricanes or some sort of Katrina. I do think we are prepared for massive snow storms though! We have a great communication system set up for alerts about snow safety and we (most of the time) have a great road safety system in place as far as plowing.
I think our country replies quickly to disaster with a minor slip up here and there. I think we learn each time there is a disaster how to be better prepared, better equipped and better respond to the issue. It will never be perfect, but we can only hope that it will save as many lives as possible.
1. Yes, I do feel that some of the materials given on the disaster preparation list is a little over the top. I can’t picture my family members choosing to wear a dust mask even though it’s for protection. I saw some of the materials on the list and questioned why they are on the list. These items include heavy work gloves and bleach. Why bleach? Maybe the gloves could be used to move heavy broken sharp objects out of the way when the surrounding building falls apart? I calculated in my head the number of gallons of water that we would need. We would need about forty-nine gallons since there are four of us!
ReplyDelete2. I feel I have no clue how well prepared my hometown (Sanford) is in the area of disaster relief! I do not pay great attention to the news of newspapers when it comes to these things! I do know that if a disaster hit and it started to really cause problems at home my family would high-tail out from our home and head elsewhere- were there were no such problems if there were such another location. My father would fight to see it happen... he'd do anything for his family!
3. Once again- I often do not pay close attention to the news when it comes to these things. But over the past few years there have been such large disasters that have occurred in our country and others that I have observed some signs of preparedness. Our country is really good at reaching out to other countries when a disaster has happened in their area. We provide them with assistance and information. I am not sure how we do in being prepared to protect ourselves from disaster!
Community health majors can work to improve on preparedness for disasters by educating the general public about the possibility of such occurrences and taking the time to explain what they should do. Would it be helpful if local state could hand out supply kits for free?
Denise brings up a great point that around here we are very well prepared for disasters like snowstorms, while we might not be so prepared for disasters we don't see as often. Likewise, other areas are probably much more prepared for disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes that they see more often. Maybe it would be helpful for us to educate each other about how to handle these situations. I think it would be a really good idea to have a plan for handling a situation such as a tornado that was modeled after a plan made by people who experience them all the time.
ReplyDeleteAs for Jen's idea of handing out supply kits, I think this could certainly be very helpful. Funding does become an issue though. Would we rather have everyone in the country have a disaster kit, or have more money to focus on helping an area that has been hit by a disaster? Having a kit handy would help people immediately and people would not have to wait for outside help to arrive before receiving supplies, but could the money that went to providing kits to the rest of the country cut into the money that could be spent on saving lives?
I think that the materials presented in the article are sufficient enough to survive. If I had a chance I would actually add to the list. Being prepared for the worst case scenario and carrying out damage control is paramount. My hometown gets an C+ for preparedness of a disaster, since 9-11 efforts for emergency masseurs have been elevated. The closer you live to a city usually means more resources and quicker response to emergency’s, but on the contrary living near cities means you’re more at risk for disasters. Walt-
ReplyDeleteThe National level response is poor in some areas and great in others, as noted the response depends on locations and the level of significance. But I would like to think in case of disaster we are somewhat prepared to assist.
ReplyDeleteWalt-
I thought the survival kit was well prepared, I thought that it had almost all the essentials and not at all excessive. My boyfriend and I had built a pantry for items like this… unfortunately its not filled yet (we have to finish building first), but I know people who do have full survival kits prepared.
ReplyDeleteAs a whole I do not think my community is all that well prepared. We hardly have the fiancés to support the needs of the community as it is, then alone planning for the future. I myself will have my first garden this year will help to adding to food storage.
We do an ok job, and are doing better with ever one we encounter, although it is hard to say that Katrina was handled well when so many people died, and were stranded on their rooftops. Although, on 9/11 as a nation we united in a way that I had never seen before. As an educator we need to inform people of the dangers of not being prepared, and teach them ways of getting prepared on a budget.
Rob made a great point that people don't usually have access food on hand, my family shops for the most part on a day-to-day basis...we wouldn't be in good shape if a disaster hit my hometown.
ReplyDeleteAnother great point made is the correlation between the response for help and how close you live to a city (where there are more resources). Being an educator in Maine which is mostly rural this is something we should definitely address.
Excellet blog!, there is so much information and it shows that where we all live our town or city might not be as prepared as we think it is, I certainly dont think that my town is prepared for any disasters to happen. I dont even know what we are supposed to do when something like Hurricane Katrina happens. This just shows that we might have to think of something so that we have a good plan to keep as many survivers as possible, or the plan should be broadcasted out better so that everyone knows if there really is a plan. And i think that we should definately re-think the list of things that you need to pack when an emergency happens, like Jen said it wouldnt make sence to carry around fourty nine gallons of water, and also as Jen said said why carry around a bottle of bleach? Overall i think that having any kind of plan is better than having no plan at all, its all about keeping as many people safe as possible.
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