A History of Emergency Planning

"I am struck by the thought that we have not come very far since my early days in this business. As a county emergency manager 20 years ago, we struggled with public education, effective warning systems, training and preparing the school systems, hospitals' the list goes on. It all sounds very familiar, doesn't it" - Avagene Moore, president of the Emergency Information Infrastructure Project (EIIP)

For today's lesson I recommend reading "Challenges, Collaboration, and Continuity" on http://www.desastres.org/. The article looks at the past 20 years of Emergency Management and Planning, where the profession is at today, and challenges for the future.

Here are some of the predictions

• Don't expect attitudes toward disaster to change. "People still make the same mistakes. People still ignore risks and say 'it won't happen to me.'"
• One of the most important things is the education of our populations, everything from websites like Ready.gov and the availability (and popularity) of weather radios to the rise of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs)
• Funding will likely always be a contentious issue
• Challenges include the continuing quest toward interoperable communications, identity theft, data privacy and hackers.

Bottom Line
One expert states, "I've always considered the average citizen as the weakest link in the chain of preparedness. Recent events demonstrate that our work is paying off and that our "customers" are taking a more active role in their own preparedness."
Another anticipates that "Individuals and families will create personal emergency management plans that focus on fire evacuation and life safety. This will be because of a general recognition that most of us will be on our own for the first 72 hours after a disaster."