A Note from Ralph Swisher

Disaster public education is growing by leaps and bounds. It is blossoming as a vital part of the emergency management and disaster response world. The highlights that follow from FEMA's Community & Family Preparedness program conference last month reflect both the challenge and the reasons why disaster public education is an increasingly large part of the answer.

Dennis Mileti's keynote address put everyone in a mood to tackle the job. As Dennis says, we do know how to do it. We'll go after all the partners it takes to do it right. Act Now Updates following this one will compress the energized output from the 24 workshop sessions at the conference.

The conference also saw a new link being formed with an old ally, the USDA-State based Cooperative Extension Service. New, and still taking its full form, is the Extension Disaster Education Network, which you'll hear more about in a future Update. You'll also hear periodic reports on the expanding disaster public education network in other ways.

At FEMA we are taking a fresh look at opportunities for making Community and Family Preparedness (CFP) increasingly effective in its support of what's needed and what's happening with all of you across the country, and we'll report on innovations and initiatives as they occur. We always want to include your ideas as we think program ideas through. The recently created CFP mail list is one way to accomplish this. It is an interactive two-way discussion list for the purpose of exchanging ideas, questions, successes, etc. You can subscribe to the list at http://mail.wces.net:81/guest/RemoteListSummary/CommunityPrep.

Tell us what you think is needed, what is possible, good ideas from you on how to seize opportunities to strengthen every community's disaster resistance and resilience. Let us hear from you -- either on the CFP mail list or by sending a message to kjunchaya@emforum.org.

Kellye Junchaya begins editing these "Updates" with this issue and we are enthusiastic about her willingness to add her special touch to the Updates and other activities scheduled for the EIIP Virtual Forum (http://www.emforum.org). Watch for online CFP Round Table sessions especially.

Community And Family Preparedness Conference

This year's CFP conference was held at FEMA's Mount Weather Conference and Training Center in Virginia the week of June 8-11. About 85 participants attended from states from Alaska to Florida and California to New York. (Idaho had a good showing and displayed a coordination among organizations worthy of emulation.) The organizations, occupations, areas of expertise, personalities, and levels of experience represented were varied and diverse. The goal, however, was the same. Everyone wanted to learn from each other and get ideas about implementing the theme, "Living Disaster Preparedness". This was accomplished through speakers, plenary sessions, around the room sharing of ideas and interactive workshops. Many workshops ran concurrently allowing more topics to be covered and easy discussions with smaller groups. At the end of the conference, three individuals were presented special awards. Overall it was a highly productive conference with ideas, viewpoints, suggestions and examples shared and traded with enthusiasm. Over the next few months, we will highlight a few of the key messages and accomplishments of the conference, starting with the keynote address and the annual awards in this issue.

Elizabeth Navin for her dedicated service to the National Disaster Education Coalition in meeting with all national partner agencies to bring together "Talking About Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages." Beth made our dream become a reality.

"The Second Assessment: Implications for Disaster Public Education" Keynote Address by Dennis Mileti, Ph.D

"Hazard mitigation must be a basic American value. We do that via public education," says Dr. Dennis Mileti, Director of the Natural Hazards Research Applications and Information Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. Using examples of previous projects and analysis of the results, he describes where we are today. "In the 1990's we have made a huge step forward in public education and action. We now know how, and just need to do it."

• Each of us must assume responsibility for public disaster education initiatives.
  
  
• Public education makes no difference unless it changes behavior.



• Altering perceptions of risk has no impact to mitigate those risks. People will respond with action only when they know what specific things are to be done, and when and why they should be done.
  
  
• People want to know what to expect after disaster hits. What will the disaster look, feel and sound like? How long will it take for help to arrive?

In an energetic and personal presentation, Dr. Mileti relayed the obstacles that we face in disaster education. People are wired to think they are safe. Public education's prime objective is to get people to be uncertain about their own safety; to wonder about the environment and question their safety in it. And just because an expert says so does not mean the people will take action. Risk information creates greater chance of action.

People do care about science, but it makes no difference in their taking steps to mitigate disaster. What does matter is if they are told what steps to take. We need to communicate:

• The losses - what to expect.



• The odds/probability - but not the numbers. Use sentences such as "Mr. Politician and Mr. Disaster Expert have determined that the chances of an earthquake (or other disaster) are high enough that we need to take the following steps now."
  
  
• Provide local information - what can happen here - not in another state or another country. (People do not want to think about the consequences of disasters and sometimes need specific information.)
  
  
• Finite personal and family actions, in detail, to take before, during and after the disaster.

There is no beginning, middle and end to disaster preparedness and education. It can't be done by one organization alone; no one person has the job or authority to make it happen. "The message has to come from everyone and all organizations, saying the same things, attractive and repetitive."

Talking About Disaster: Guide For Standard Messages

Earthquake Experience Triggers Support of Public Education

Tracy Carter Sondeen of FEMA’s Region VIII in Denver, who was at the June 8-11 CFP conference, forwarded a provocative message from a friend of her husband's, who had just experienced an earthquake in Mexico. He was astonished at the lack of knowledge demonstrated during and following the earthquake. He started wondering about the public's education and knowledge here in the United States. We thought his observations were worth passing on to you - the people who implement new ideas.

"...Cities can have all of the disaster plans they want. But if all there is deals globally with the aftermath, there is more aftermath to deal with. In Seattle we live with the possibility of earthquakes all the time. The big advice - have your emergency preparedness kit. Stock canned food and bottled water, flashlight and batteries, etc. Fine and if a big one happens and you aren't at home next to your emergency preparedness kit, then what? What exactly does a tornado do? How about a fire? What can you expect? Does driver education in school handle what to do if you are involved in a collision? Do they even teach how to deal with coming unglued on an icy road? Not that I've seen, but I haven't looked very much. I really think that one of the programs in schools should be some material like online presentations on how to think your way through the kinds of disasters you are likely to encounter in your life."

Upcoming Events

CFP expects to be represented at the National Association of Counties 1999 Annual Conference in St. Louis, July 16-20 by Peggy Stahl, Chief of the Outreach Branch, Partnerships and Outreach Division in FEMA's Preparedness, Training, and Exercises directorate. The CFP program is now under her supervision.

Peggy Stahl and Ralph Swisher will represent the program at the International Association for Emergency Management in Louisville, KY, in November.

For more information — or to send information to the Update: