Community Plan for Emergency Preparedness - Essay Example

"Community Plan for Emergency Preparedness" is an excellent example of a paper on social and family issues.
Community emergency preparedness programs are projected to educate people on how to set up a catastrophe response. The programs are meant to train people in basic skills, such as search and rescue, fire safety, medical operations, and team organization in case of a disaster. The training equips people with the necessary skills needed and thus, they are placed in a position to help others in case of a disaster. Team members are encouraged to take active roles in emergency preparedness programs in their community (Havrilesky, 2010). In planning for community emergency preparedness the following steps have to be followed:-

Seliger and Simoneau, (1986) say that the community itself has to be prepared for the disaster, volunteers have to be recruited for the training programs; this way we will make sure that community members know what needs to be done during a disaster. The community has to embrace its personal responsibility to be prepared in case of a disaster. Local organizations within the community that host planning meetings should involve preparedness and create volunteer opportunities. Local leaders who represent each part of the community should be involved in the disaster management team; they should participate actively in developing community emergency plans.

The second part of community preparedness programs is to identify local partners who will help in this emergency program. Already established organizations, that have identified community needs and have the experience we should be involved in providing solutions.

A team should be put in place: the team should constitute of all disciplines in the hospital and the community leaders. House meetings should be done to recruit new members, these will be effective as they will share their experiences. This squad will be thus, effective in enacting change at the community level.

Goals have to be set and individuals are given responsibility in the disaster management programs. The public must be engaged and educated, and drills are done; they should be made aware of each person's responsibility in disaster management preparedness. They should know their roles in advance before a disaster happens. Community and personal preparedness are vital in preparing.

The last step is to serve the community; this can be done by learning the hazards that are most likely to happen and know the appropriate responses. Learn everything about the local emergency responses, derails plans, and exercise. Find out what the people and the community are doing in preparation for the disaster.

Disaster preparedness is important within every community and this is not possible without the support of the community and the programs in place. On top of the disaster preparedness flow of information is essential at each and every level as this will ensure cooperation and economical use of the available resources.