Agenda - 08-19-2008 - 4c - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 Orange County Preparedness Month Campaign Plan Prepared by Orange County Health Department July 3, 2008 Overview The month of September is recognized as National Preparedness Month. Orange County partners, primarily Emergency Services and the Health Department will implement amonth-long campaign in September with the purpose of raising residents' awareness of the importance of individual and family preparedness, increasing the number of residents who are prepared for an emergency, and educating residents on the health department's role in local emergency preparedness and response. Existing research shows that personal preparedness levels among United States residents are low to moderate and that there is always room for more public information on this topic. This campaign will help address the Health Department's Crisis Communication Plan goal of increasing public knowledge of local natural and man- made disaster threats. Evidence of Need Local: The 2007 Orange County Community Health Assessment collected emergency preparedness data for Orange County residents. Participants were asked the following questions about household preparedness: (1) Do you have a household plan in case of a natural disaster or other emergency? 53% percent of surveyed homes did not have a household emergency plan and 3% did not know whether their household had an emergency plan. (2) Do you have a stock of water and non-perishable food in your home in case of emergency? 41 % of homes surveyed did not have emergency water and supply of non- perishable food and 1 % did not know if their home had such supplies. (3) Do you have all the essential items you would need to evacuate your home at a moment's notice? 56% of homes surveyed did not have all the essential items needed for a sudden evacuation. Survey results did not segment responses by geographic location within the county or socioeconomic status (although it is possible to do this). State: In September 2004, the North Carolina Division of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control conducted a Rapid Community Health and Needs Assessment in response to the impact Hurricanes Isabel and Charley had on North Carolina. According to this report, the hurricanes resulted in power outages that made it difficult for residents to receive medical care, food, and water. The report notes that lower-income residents had a harder time to accessing these services. National: There are several data sources at the national level confirming inadequate emergency preparedness among families and individuals. One in particular is a national opinion survey released by the American Public Health Association (APHA) in 2007, which surveyed 925 adults and found that most Americans are not prepared for a public health emergency because: (1) Americans prefer to not think about what could happen during a crisis, (2) some Americans overestimate their level of preparedness, and (3) Americans determine necessity of public health preparedness using acost-benefit analysis.