Increasing Levels of Emergency Preparedness in Urban Areas by Use of Children as a Communication Pathway

Abstract

This research was designed to change the actual level of preparedness in the homes of low socioeconomic status families in Baltimore City. Baltimore City has a unique population increasing its vulnerability during an event. Lack of available resources and an aging infrastructure increase the inequality gap worsening the impact of disasters in these vulnerable populations. Increasing preparedness needs to be planned at the community level, which can then incorporate norms and culture.The Get Ready! Stay Ready! BÕMore! Program was designed to educate middle school-level children on what their home needs to be prepared. All schools that participated were given a pre and post-survey assessing the level of preparedness in their homes. The treatment group also received the intervention of a video and question-and-answer session. Each preparedness variable was evaluated on the level of change in the home. A difference-in-difference regression was run to determine if changes between the treatment and control groups were statistically significant. It was found that overall change between the treatment and control group and 9 of the independent variables were statistically significant. Schools were then separated into socioeconomic groups based on zip code and assessed again. Preparedness levels did increase in both the low and middle SES groups, but only the mid-SES groupÕs findings were statistically significant. The programÕs success indicates that additional changes could be possible using similar techniques. Barriers encountered during the program should also be considered. Planning between schools and emergency managers needs to be more robust.