Local Resilience Networks

rand.org

Community resilience, or the sustained ability of a community to withstand and recover from adversity has become a key policy issue at federal, state, and local levels, including in the National Health Security Strategy. Because resources are limited in the wake of an emergency, it is increasingly recognized that resilience is critical to a community's ability to reduce long recovery periods after an emergency. This report provides a roadmap for federal, state, and local leaders who are developing plans to enhance community resilience for health security threats and describes options for building community resilience in key areas. Based on findings from a literature review and a series of community and regional focus groups, the authors provide a definition of community resilience in the context of national health security and a set of eight levers and five core components for building resilience. They then describe suggested activities that communities are pursuing and may want to strengthen for community resilience, and they identify challenges to implementation.

submitted by Ben Sheppard

federalsignal-indust.com

We believe Federal Signal's 2012 Public Safety Survey is the most comprehensive national survey gauging the public's emotional reactions to emergency and disaster situations - from their response to notification alerts and sirens to their trust in their community's emergency preparedness. It takes more than community officials to ensure that the public is prepared for a disaster. Whether warnings emanate from a siren or from a neighbor, effective response to an emergency alert or notification demands the engagement of each and every citizen. This survey brings to light just how critical it is for members of the general public to be actively engaged during an emergency crisis. More importantly, the survey stresses how important it is for Americans to have an emergency plan in place that enables them to act quickly when their safety is threatened.

http://www.federalsignal-indust.com/survey.asp

2012 Annual Public Safety Survey: Revealing Americans' Awareness and Preparedness Surrounding Emergency Situations (12 page .PDF file)

Homeland Security News Wire - June 21, 2012

A disaster recovery expert says that the relationships people have with their neighbors are invaluable in the recovery from natural disasters from the moment an evacuation issue notice is granted to living in shelters and to how a community rebuilds after a wildfire, flooding, or hurricane

How well residents evicted by Western wildfires know their neighbors will likely play a major role in how they cope and rebuild, says a Purdue University expert.

“The relationships people have with their neighbors are invaluable in the recovery from natural disasters from the moment an evacuation issue notice is granted to living in shelters and to how a community rebuilds after a wildfire, flooding or hurricane,” says Daniel Aldrich, an associate professor of political science who studies how people recover from natural disasters. “Supporting these social networks is just as important as the logistical planning of surviving and taking shelter from a natural disaster. My research shows that people who know their neighbors are more likely to survive and return to their communities to rebuild.”