No matter where you live, you are susceptible to disasters, from fires in the home to natural disasters that could destroy your community. The Japanese people are far ahead of the United States when it comes to disaster preparedness.
William Stafford wrote an excellent article for The Reporter about their system of disaster training centers that are so popular they are even listed as tourist attractions.
Mr. Stafford makes the point that Americans “should learn to be a little less obsessed with terrorism, much more about preparedness”. It’s a valid point, especially when you compare property damage or the number of people killed by terrorism and natural disasters.
Here is an excerpt from the article, where he describes his visit to one of the disaster training centers:
On arrival in Fukuoka, I took a Sunday afternoon stroll to see the center. To my amazement, there was a line of families in the parking lot waiting to enter. I toured the facility and complimented one of the workers on parents bringing their children for training.
Children at a school in Japan try their hand at a target practice game using fire extinguishers. Other drills teach kids how to use buckets of water to put out fires in case there are no fire extinguishers available. Photo: Kids Web Japan
She replied: “That is not correct, sir. The children are bringing their parents. All schoolchildren must annually visit the center. They like it so much, that they bring their parents on the weekend.” The facility is run by the Fukuoka Fire Department.
Every major city in Japan, I learned, has an experienced-based disaster training center run by the city government. There is nothing like this in the United States. My discussions with local Red Cross and other officials suggest the American system is simply not effective. But the professionals I talked with were genuinely excited by the Japanese approach. We took our Seattle delegation to the Fukuoka center as part of the study mission. A sample of what they saw:
In one room, there’s an interactive screen the size of a wall in one’s home. In the corner of the screen is a waste paper basket. Against the wall are four red fire extinguishers. Paper in the waste basket catches fire. The fire begins to spread. Four children run to get the extinguishers and spray them on the fire. If done properly, the fire goes out. If not, the room burns up!
It turned out that none of the more than 74 Seattle delegates had ever used a fire extinguisher before, although all of them had one in their home.
Another room is set up as a kitchen, with a table, four chairs and a gas stove. Four of our delegates sat at the table. The room began to rock and shake to simulate either a 5.0 or a 7.0 earthquake. One turned off the stove while the others dove under the table and held onto the table legs. Afterward, one of our business delegates said he would bolt his home to the foundation on his return to Seattle.
The center allows one to escape a smoke-filled room, learn about floods, experience typhoon-level winds, examine a medivac helicopter and practice CPR. We discussed home-safety precautions, smoke detectors use and other day-to-day safety tips.
The International Association of Emergency Mangers is calling for FEMA to be removed from the Department of Homeland Security and to be an independent agency reporting directly to the President.
IAEM-USA believes that mixing the DHS mission of preventing future terrorism events and the FEMA mission of disaster consequence management (mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) has significantly detracted from both missions. The re-establishment of FEMA as an independent agency reporting directly to the President, with a Director designated as a member of the President’s Cabinet, would allow federal, state and local government partners to better serve the American public during future disasters.
The fundamental division of work would return to the paradigm of crisis management (protecting the nation by preventing and catching those who would commit an act of terrorism against the United States) and consequence management (dealing with the impact of any disaster – whether natural, technological or terrorism-related). IAEM-USA believes that a nimble, strong and independent FEMA with strong state and local partners would greatly contribute to the safety of our citizens and the resiliency our communities. Thanks, Dick, for the tip.
