Enhancing Disaster Preparedness Through Awareness and Education

Awareness and education Presented by : s. Maha lakshmi Harish nanda

WHAT IS AWARENESS AND EDUCATION? Public awareness in disaster management is a process of educating and empowering the population through sharing knowledge and information about the various types of disasters and their potential risks as widely as possible so that people act appropriately when a disaster happens. The key to reducing loss of life, personal injuries, and damage from natural disasters is widespread public awareness and education.

Awareness and education at home : Home: household survival plan should provide basic information on what hazardous events are most likely to occur in particular communities, what emergenecy equipment and supplies should be on hand, what precautions should be taken to limit damage and what preparations should be made for escape and evacuation.

Awareness and education through Public officials and press: Special attention should be given to raising the level of knowledge and expertise of public officials and the press, both of whom have central responsibilites for dealing with natural disasters. community emergency procedures, warning signals, disaster resources, and relief facilities and responsibilies should be spelled out in advance and reviewed and tested periodically by public officials and the press.

Awareness and education through The community: Community-wide planning and education should be encouraged. Schools, government organizations, community and church groups, business and neighborhood organizations, hospital and medical groups, and the news media should all be involved. Regional and community demonstration programs disaster day exercises, volunteer courses, and conferences should be undertaken and evaluate for their effectiveness.

Awareness and education through Professionals: Disaster education is essential in the training of the government and private sector professionals emergency management personnel, and emergency service providers who have the major responsibility for mitigation and emergency response. professional continuing education programs on mitigating the effects of natural disasters should be made widely available through colleges, universities , and professional associations.

Awareness and education in Work place: Awareness and education for disaster mitigation and preparedness should be encouraged in the workplace. Labor unions, industry management, government employers, and business groups should work with disaster specialists and community agencies to produce and acquire the necessary training and information materials, existing work safety and security programs should be expanded to include disaster preparedness measures and emergency response to ensure that procedures are followed in an emergency.

Awareness before quake: when you hearing the emergency earthquake warning: Quake! Protect yourself first. be prepared and protect yourself from an earthquake when you hear an earthquake warning announcement or feel a quake. Stay under a large table until a quake is gone. Keep yourself safe from falling or moving objects during a quake .(high-rise building with 10 or more floors) Upper floors may be shaken for several minutes. Large, slow shakes may let the furniture fall down or move across the room. Don t use elevators (they ll probably get stuck anyway) If in a car, stop the car and stay inside the car until the earthquake stops. Don t use any flame while quake.

After earthquake: check yourself and others for injuries. Provide first aid for anyone who needs it. stay away from damaged areas. stay away from beaches. Tsunamis sometimes hit after the ground has stopped shaking. check water , gas and electric lines for damage. If any are damaged, shut off the valves. Check for the smell of gas. If you smell it, open all the windows and doors, leave immediately. And report it to the authorities .

Awareness of flood: Bring in outdoor furniture and move indoor furniture to a higher floor if possible. Unplug all electrical appliances. Turn off your gas and electricity at the main valve (if instructed) to help prevent fires and explosions. Climb to the highest place you can. do not walk, swim or drive through flood water. Turn around ,don t drown. stay off of bridges over fast moving water.

some Awareness of cyclones: check the area around the house. Remove dead or dying trees, removable objects like loose bricks, garbage cans, sign boards, etc.. if you are in evacuation areas, move your valuable articles to upper floors to minimise flood damage. any loose and dangling wire from the lamp post should be stricthly avoided. be alert for high water in areas where streams of rivers mau flood due to heavy rains.

Advantages of disaster awareness and education: provides contemporary and relevant information about local environment. participation in both pre and post disaster activities effective teamwork and spirit decision making

Disaster management and education Govt of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development in its tenth five year plan emphasized the need for integrating DM in the existing education system in India. DM in the curriculum of school and professional education has been recommended to the boards. CBSE has integrated a short course on DM in the school curriculum. they introduced the subject on DM as a frontline curriculum in social science.

some institutions with available disaster management courses....

Universities with available disaster management courses

Universities for masters and short- term courses Institutes offering short term courses Institutes offering master s

Universities for M. A. DISASTER MANAGEMENT

conclusion Disaster not attended properly it causes severe damage properly educate the people about the different forms of disaster and creating awareness. disaster management team must be given proper training and equipped with latest equipments. Government should allocate sufficient funds.