Emergency: Neighborhood Safety “Emergency preparedness” often inspires thoughts of emergency 72-hour kits, food storage, and maybe an underground shelter or two. People who are more involved with it know that it means much more--it means knowing what disasters could occur in their area, understanding the damage and danger they cause, and preparing by having plans and practicing. Few, however, think that emergency preparedness does not have to be an individual or familial pursuit; in many cases, real emergency preparedness starts with individuals and then expands to encompass whole communities. When people band together and plan ahead, they can use one another’s strengths to benefit the whole neighborhood, thus making it more likely that everyone will survive and even thrive during a disaster. In an emergency, it is very likely that communities or even cities could be on their own for days or weeks. Winter storms, for instance, have been known to completely isolate towns; and since the weather was so bad, there was no way for the government or relief teams to get in there and help the citizens. In order to prevent this sort of situation from turning into a tragedy, it is important that people begin to get to know each other and get to know each other’s strengths. It would be very difficult for one person to have every skill they might need in a disaster. For instance, someone could be a skilled EMT with extensive medical training might not be the most talented electrician. But both of these skills can be vital in an emergency. When communities come together, they are able to use everyone’s talents, skills, and careers for the good of the neighborhood. However, while this sounds like a great idea, many people wonder how to begin. The answer to this question is actually pretty simple: start meeting neighbors. Become familiar with the people who live two doors down or just around the corner. People will find it difficult to trust one another and work together during a disaster if they don’t even know one another. Once people are casual acquaintances, they should try exchanging phone numbers and other important details. Know who works late, who has infants or children with special needs, and who has children home alone after school. Knowing these details will help not only in a disaster, but could also prove life-saving during normal occurrences. This is perhaps the most important step, since building trust and beginning to work together on a daily basis is key when it comes to working together smoothly during a disaster. After getting to know neighbors, the next big step to neighborhood preparedness is actually organizing the forces of the community. If there is no neighborhood council or civic association, it is a little more difficult to get the ball rolling when it comes to neighborhood disaster preparedness. In that case, it only takes one concerned citizen to start talking to other neighbors, community leaders, and merchants and religious leaders. It only takes a handful of volunteers to get started when it comes to emergency preparedness! If an association already exists, then it is much easier to prepare a community for disaster. Work with the current members of the organization: bring up the issue of preparedness at the next meeting to generate interest and concern. Once enough people are interested in emergency preparedness, all that’s left to do is start educating and organizing. As most emergency preparedness gurus realize, knowledge is the key to survival when it comes to disasters. If people don’t know what they’re up against, they don’t know what to expect, what supplies to buy, or what drills to practice. Each member of the community should be responsible for this part. Everyone should know what natural disasters (and man-made disasters) their area is susceptible to, and how to combat those dangers. In order to provide general awareness, town or neighborhood councils can also have local police or firemen speak at neighborhood meetings.
Another aspect of emergency preparedness that each individual home should take care of by themselves is having an emergency kit. These kits should contain food, water, and first aid generally speaking; and they should also be personalized with any necessary medications, photocopies of important documents like birth certificates or Social Security cards, and any other items the family might need. However, when it comes to bigger worries, like medical care, communications (both within and outside of the neighborhood), or crime, that is when the community of a neighborhood really comes into play. Not every person needs to know how to properly treat a complex fracture or needs to know how to operate a multiband radio as long as a few others in the community understand these things. Not everyone has to have a water purifier (though that would be ideal), or needs to have emergency training like police officers do. It’s unrealistic to expect each person to have all these skills and more. With proper organization, however, neighborhoods can find out which families can help with each aspect of coping with disaster. Not to mention the added benefit of having someone next door who might know what to do in case of a particular disaster, just in case one forgets. When whole communities understand what to do, this also instills a sense of confidence into individual members. When people realize that they don’t have to depend solely on themselves for survival skills, and when they are able to trust the people around them, everyone becomes much more secure when it comes to dealing with disasters. However, even when responsibilities are meted out and people understand what to do in specific disasters, the community’s work is not done. People must continually refresh their memory when it comes to disaster preparedness. Remember--the more someone practices an action, the more likely they are to remember it in times of stress. Neighborhood councils should consider holding emergency preparedness classes dealing with different situations and disasters. And as the awareness of disasters grows, so will the need to further organize the emergency plans. People should be continually considering and updating their evacuation plan and other drills in order to accommodate new members of the neighborhood, and other variables. Although getting the whole neighborhood involved in emergency preparedness is probably not something most people would think about when they consider getting ready for a disaster, it is very important and can save lives. When whole neighborhoods work together, everyone benefits from their neighbors’ skill and talents and it creates a network of trust, so people don’t have to worry about unnecessary concerns when they need to be worrying about survival in the face of disaster.