The Role of Personal and Community Preparedness in Emergency Management

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) divides disasters into two main categories: natural and human-made. More than half of Americans don’t have a plan in place to deal with either type, according to FEMA’s 2023 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness.

This news is not only disheartening, it’s potentially deadly:

• In 2022, the U.S. experienced 18 separate weather and climate disasters costing at least $1 billion. These disasters caused at least 474 direct or indirect fatalities, reports the National Centers for Environmental Information.
• In 2022, the FBI designated 50 shootings as active shooter incidents (the FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area). There were 313 casualties (100 killed and 213 wounded).
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. averages 150 catastrophic chemical-related incidents each year.

We sat down with Robert Fagan, certified emergency manager (CEM), fire and emergency management faculty at Purdue Global, to discuss the importance of personal and community emergency preparedness and how to prepare an emergency kit.

What Is Disaster Preparedness?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines preparedness as "a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response."

According to Fagan, disaster preparedness is everyone’s responsibility.

“It's extremely important that every single citizen devotes some time to doing this for themselves and their family,” he says. “Preparedness means anticipating both natural and human-made events that could affect you, your family, and your community.”

Being prepared means having your own food, water, and other supplies to last for at least 72 hours, according to FEMA.

Personal and Family Preparedness: “Own the First 72 Hours”

What can citizens do to prepare for an emergency?

“Cultivate the mindset of owning the first 72 hours,” Fagan says. “Think of it this way: ‘This is on me. No one's coming to get me. I have to be able to evacuate or shelter in place.’”

Build a Disaster Supplies Kit

The first step is to build a disaster supplies kit (a.k.a. a go bag, bug-out bag or a go kit, or just a kit or an emergency kit).

The following items should be in your kit, according to FEMA:

• Water (one gallon per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation)
• Food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food)
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
• Flashlight
• First aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle (to signal for help)
• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place)
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
• Manual can opener (for food)
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery

Download the recommended supplies list from Ready.gov.

Talk to Your Children (and Their School)

“Have a plan on how to reunite with your child,” Fagan says. “Find out how the school would notify you in the event of an emergency, and talk to your kids about what to do if they need to be picked up and you can’t get to them.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, parents should also do the following:

• Make sure the school has your updated emergency contact information.
• Put an emergency card in your child’s backpack that includes their name, school name and contact information, date of birth, any medical conditions, and contact information for yourself and an additional emergency contact.
• Have your child memorize important addresses and phone numbers.

Ready.gov is a national public service campaign designed to educate Americans on how to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate emergencies and disasters. On Ready Kids, children can learn about disasters, play preparedness games, and get tips to prepare; teens can learn how to be a leader in their family and community’s preparedness.

Develop a Family Communication Plan

A family communication plan lays out how to reach each other and where to meet up in an emergency. Ready.gov provides comprehensive information on what should be included in your family’s plan and a template to create one.

Fagan offers a practical tip that everyone can do today: “Write down the 10 to 15 key phone numbers in your family’s lives, and put them on your refrigerator in case you don't have access to your phone.”

Consider Those in the At-Risk Category

“There is a moral imperative for people and communities to improve preparedness for disasters and emergencies,” Fagan says. “In cases of hurricanes or wildfires, we often see increased devastation in underserved and at-risk populations. Too often there's inadequate instruction, inadequate drilling, and inadequate budgets associated with the cost of preparing for evacuation.”

At-risk populations are those with needs that may interfere with their ability to access or receive medical care before, during, or after a disaster or public health emergency, including:

• Children
• Pregnant women
• The elderly
• People with disabilities
• Those who do not speak English (because they may not be able to understand what’s being said via the public alert system)
• People with limited access to transportation
• People with limited access to financial resources
• People experiencing homelessness
• People with chronic health conditions

“This cannot be survival of the fittest,” Fagan says. “We have to look out for the folks who can't look out for themselves.”

Include in your plan how you will handle loved ones with access and functional needs, such as the elderly. To learn more, read FEMA’s Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities.

Make Plans for Your Pets

Pets are part of your family, and they need to be included in your family’s emergency plan.

“I'm a dog owner, and I love my dog — that's why she has a plan with me,” says Fagan. “I have a little go-bag for her and a kennel. I can put her in that kennel, put it in my SUV, and evacuate with my pet.”

To learn more about preparing your pets for disasters and what should go in their emergency kit, visit Ready.gov’s Prepare Your Pets for Disasters.

See If Your Community Conducts Preparedness Activities

Some cities conduct “What would you do?” workshops with residents in which they teach what to do in emergency scenarios such as tornados, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, or power outages, among others. FEMA provides downloads of the facilitator guide, scenarios, and answer keys.

To check if your town or city conducts preparedness activities, check its official website or call its Office of Emergency Management.

Become a Volunteer

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program gives information and training to community members. Their goal is to make non-professional responses to disasters as safe and effective as possible.

“Being on a CERT team helps you respond in your community,” Fagan says. “During a disaster, that CERT team will be called up, and then they will operate as a group alongside emergency medical fire and law enforcement.”

Join the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)

With more than 300,000 volunteers, the MRC is a national network of locally organized volunteers who prepare for and respond to emergencies. The MRC is a program of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Every state in America has some sort of MRC,” Fagan says. “You don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse to be part of one. If you’re looking to improve the health and safety of your community, the Medical Reserve Corps is an excellent route to take.”

Learn more about what they do and find out if there’s an MRC near you.

Visit Ready.gov and FEMA.gov

Both Ready.gov and FEMA.gov are websites of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and they each provide abundant information, downloads, and other resources. FEMA offers preparedness grants, and Ready.gov operates both Ready Kids and Ready Business. The latter is aimed at disaster assistance and emergency management for business leaders and employees.

“The United States is blessed with resources and agencies that inform and coordinate disaster preparedness, response, and recovery,” Fagan says. “However, we should never lose sight of the fact that the individual citizen and their family members are the first link in the chain of survival for themselves and their communities.

“Disaster preparedness is not about doom and gloom. It's about hope and love. We should prepare before disasters so we can help ourselves and our neighbors in times of crisis.”

Launch or Grow Your Career in Emergency Management

Does a career in emergency management call to you? Or perhaps you are in the field and need a degree to advance. Purdue Global, part of the Purdue University system, offers two online degree programs that can help you reach your career goals:

• Bachelor's degree in fire and emergency management
• Bachelor's degree in emergency management

All of Purdue Global’s programs are online, enabling you to keep working and tending to life’s other obligations while going to college. Reach out for more information.