The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > General > Homeland Security

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-12-2008, 05:51 AM
David's Avatar
David David is offline
Administrator
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 46,798
Distinctions
Special Projects VOM Staff Contributor 
Default Survey finds holes in US disaster preparedness

AP


NEW YORK - In a disaster such as an earthquake or terrorist attack, nearly two-thirds of U.S. parents would disregard orders to evacuate and would rush to pick up their kids from school, according to a new survey.

The survey found that 63 percent of parents would ignore orders to evacuate and instead attempt to reunite with their children, possibly hindering rescue efforts by adding to traffic congestion.

The authors of the study, released Thursday on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, said that despite years of government efforts to enhance disaster preparedness, schools need to do more to plan for disasters and parents need to be made aware of the plans.

The report was commissioned by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Children's Health Fund.

Among parents of school-age children, 45 percent said they do not know the location where their children would be evacuated as part of the school's disaster plan.

"There should be an outcry from parents to push their schools and their school districts to develop a plan that makes sense," said Irwin Redlener, associate dean for public health preparedness at Columbia and president of the Children's Health Fund.

The federal Department of Homeland Security has allocated billions of dollars to help state and local governments set up disaster contingency plans.

But just 44 percent of the U.S. residents surveyed this year said they have all or some of the basic elements of a disaster preparedness plan, including food, water, a flashlight with extra batteries and a meeting place in case of evacuation.

The survey has been administered annually since 2002 by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

The telephone survey of 1,579 adults was conducted between July 25 and Aug. 9. The margin of error for the entire survey was 2.5 percentage points. The margin of error for the subset of households with children was 4 percentage points.

Parents said Thursday they were not surprised by the finding that most of them would disregard evacuation orders and pick up their children.

Diana Ennen, of Margate, Fla., is the author of "The Home Office Recovery Plan: Disaster Preparedness for Your Home-Based Business" and a mother of three.

"As a mom, you wouldn't be able to keep me away from picking up my children," she said in an e-mail. "My first instinct would be to get them at all costs. I would literally run the entire distance to get them. I believe most parents would feel the same."
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2  
Old 09-17-2008, 12:45 PM
Advisor Advisor is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Dec 1969
Posts: 938
Default

"The federal Department of Homeland Security has allocated billions of dollars to help state and local governments set up disaster contingency plans."

And, what was the money spent for? Inquiring minds want to know.
__________________
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. -Samuel Johnson
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Survey Says: DemCong = EPIC FAIL darrels joy General Posts 2 07-08-2008 05:32 PM
State of the War Effort survey darrels joy Iraqi Freedom 2 03-20-2008 09:15 AM
Survey for possible Veteran-Focused TV Series Marnie Mowles General Posts 0 03-10-2008 09:52 PM
Survey shows many officers skeptical of transformation thedrifter Marines 1 11-20-2003 05:57 AM
Holes In The Fence Of State HARDCORE Political Debate 2 07-09-2003 09:29 AM

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:17 PM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.