Population Protection Guidelines
When a disaster strikes, family disaster preparedness is the foundation for a strong community. Prepared citizens and community leaders help reduce loss and suffering. This is especially true when normal services are lost for an extended period of time. In the past years, we have seen our vulnerability to earth quakes, wildland fires, mud slides, and electrical storms in the Salmon River area.
When disruptions of this scale occur, our emergency response agencies are working at full capacity. In this environment, neighbors helping neighbors is the single most important asset we have. A concerned and caring neighbor prevents small problems from developing into a life-threatening situation.
What can you do?
You can help neighbors who are unprepared to meet basic, life-sustaining needs with:
- Heat and light
- Hygiene and waste disposal
- Food
- Water
- Community-building
The guidelines that follow provide information that will help you and your neighbors safely meet these basic needs, using materials that are likely to be on hand.
Guiding Principles
This manual provides tools to help neighbors help each other meet basic life-sustaining needs. It is a guide only, and does not substitute for common sense. Your response to a disaster, and the use of this guide, is founded on these principles:
- The strength of a community is prepared individuals.
- Each family’s situation and resources are unique.
- Each family’s privacy and dignity are respected.
These principles are vital, because disasters are also a psychological shock. In general, most people bond together as a community to help each other get through a crisis. Over time, however, you may see (and experience yourself), a wide range of emotional responses, including:
- denial
- fatigue
- anger/blaming
- headaches
- loss of appetite
- sleep disturbances
- family problems
These are real, expected, and usually temporary responses. Talking about shared experiences and feelings is a natural way to work through these stages. The important thing is to remain non-judgmental and leave any counseling to professionals.
Reaction to Disaster
During and after a disaster, people may experience strong feelings of solidarity and bonding with their neighbors and others who have suffered the same situation. They may become very cooperative, generous, compassionate, helpful, and warm-hearted. People often demonstrate the ability to learn new skills very fast, and exhibit a lot of ingenuity and creativity in working around obstacles and managing chaotic situations. Humans are known for sacrificing themselves to save others, sometimes for members of their family, but also for complete strangers. We can work hard and smart when the need is there. Instead of giving into despair, we can become pro-active. People are very adaptable, even when changes are coming very fast and the stress is very grave.
During and after a disaster, some people take advantage of the suffering, distress, weakness, or problems of others. They profiteer on scarce goods, refuse to cooperate on necessary neighborhood projects, hinder rescue and repair efforts, and/or turn violent and criminal. Some disasters have been followed by violence and looting, and theft generally increases. People can be rude, arrogant, intensified by the stress of a major traumatic event.