In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

New York City Faith-Based Preparedness Forum

April 8th, 2008 · No Comments

I attended an emergency preparedness forum yesterday for local religious leaders held at the Queens Museum. It was organized by the New York City Citizen Corps Council along with the American Red Cross of Greater New York, the NYC Office of Emergency Management and the NYC Department of Health. Approximately 75 people, representing many different denominations, listened to presentations and took part in an actual storm emergency scenario.

The faith-based community is an important yet often overlooked leg of citizen emergency preparedness stool. Religious institutions already have a leadership role in their neighborhoods,  have credibility with the public, and are often the best (and sometimes only) connection to parts of the community – ie. non-English speaking, immigrant – that government has the most difficult time reaching before and during a disaster. Engaging religious leaders and institutions to be in the forefront of spreading the word about emergency preparedness makes a lot of sense since they will be in the forefront of any disaster response. 

The New York City Citizen Corps Council provides an overall umbrella for area organizations involved in disaster preparedness and response. It offers many opportunities for citizens interested in volunteering in the area of disaster preparedness and response. These events are occurring in New York City borough with the next one taking place in Staten Island. Below is a photo of Herman Schaffer, the Chair of New York City’s Citizens Corps Council, providing clergy members with an overview of the City’s efforts and plans regarding emergency preparedness to the religious leaders.

 

One interesting idea for engaging the faith-based sector in preparedness is Alabama’s Be Ready Sunday. In 2007, the state designated a Sunday during National Preparedness Month (September) for religious leaders should speak to their congregations on the subject of preparedness. Alabama’s Homeland Security Director Jim Walker told me that the day turned out to be quite successful in helping focus efforts and expanding the reach of the preparedness message not only inside the houses of worship, but, thanks to media coverage about the day, outside as well. A ”Be Ready Sunday” (or maybe ”Be Ready Weekend” to include faiths, such as Judaism, that worship on other days) is worth trying here in New York and other parts of the country.

If you would like more information about getting involved in the faith-based community’s disaster efforts or are just interested in the subject of emergency preparedness, I recommend signing up for the biweekly email newsletter put together by New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS). NYDIS works to develop and support faith-based disaster readiness, response and recovery services in the New York City area. Its newsletter provides information on many citizen preparedness initiatives, activities and news. It is comprehensive, but very well-edited so easy to read.

By the way, the location of yesterday’s event, The Queens Museum, located right next to the old World’s Fair grounds and the National Tennis Center, is the home of one of the underappreciated landmarks in New York, the Panorama, a 9,3335 sq. ft. model of New York City that includes every building built before 1992 – with 895,000 individual structures. These photos offer some sense of how incredible it is, though I suggest a visit. Seeing the Panorama gives even long-time New Yorkers like myself a new appreciation of and perspective on our City. In fact, though the event was not scheduled for this reason, seeing the Panorama underscores the City’s emergency management situation. For example, you really see the role of the water both as a natural threat to the City, but also as well as a potential source of evacuation.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Technorati

Tags: Faith-Based Preparedness

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment