Public Preparedness
In the world that we are living if, we are on a constant threat of facing danger. We face disasters like drought and famine, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, warfare (military, civil wars, biological and chemical wars), terrorism, nuclear attacks, and so on.
This gives the government a lot of burden of ensuring the well-being of its subjects together with their properties. It is due to this fact that the governments of many countries advocate for communities to have a variety of preparedness groups that will prepare individuals to protect themselves in case of an emergence. Due to the present variety of dangers or emergencies that individuals can face, there is a variety of preparedness groups out there, especially in the United States. This essay shall focus on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The Preparedness Program in LA County
The LA County Department of Public Health is a government institution that works to ensure that the inhabitants of LA County receive high-quality medical services and attention.
It is due to this fact that the department has enacted several programs that aim at creating awareness to the inhabitants of the county especially with regards to emergence response. The main aim of this institution is to protect individuals within LA County from emergencies such as terrorism, natural calamities, and international emergencies (Department of Public Health 3). However, the institution has been involved in several campaigns all across the county since its incorporation to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of its activities through the creation of community awareness. This will ensure that the initiatives of the institution through its programs to be successful are successful by individuals working hard to protect themselves and their families.
Elements found on the Website
The website of the institution is very informative. It contains a lot of information that aims at creating awareness for individuals about emergency preparedness. The website is detailed since it contains information on how an individual can protect himself/herself and their families from different kinds of emergencies. For instance, the website has a program structure that contains the policies and planning strategies that the state and individuals can follow in an event of an emergency.
Also, the website has information with regards to emergency response teams. These teams are made of trained professionals from various emergency response departments of the county and volunteers from the community who have received basic training with regards to emergency response. In this segment, there is also a tutorial that gives the public basic information on the basic precautions that an individual can take in case of an emergency and the authorities that he/she has to alert to ensure that the situation is contained. Consequently, the website has information with regards to threat assessment, pandemic response, and operational readiness. This information is essential as it develops confidence within the members of the public that they and their government can contain emergencies.
Other segments are essential to individuals who visit the site. One of these is the segment of volunteering. In this segment, individuals in different parts of LA can volunteer for various emergency response teams. These include the Long Beach MRC, Beach Cities MRC, and MRC Los Angeles. This segment gives members of the community a chance to give back to their society by helping out on daily activities that reduce the chances of an event of an emergency from occurring. Also, such individuals will always report on duty during an emergency and provide the required effort that will lead to the saving of life and property.
Finally, the website has a segment that teaches individuals how to build their safety kit that will be essential to save their lives and the lives of their families in an event of an emergency. From the website, it is possible to download a brochure that contains the directions that are required to make an emergency kit, all the essentials that are required in the kit. Besides, this link also provides individuals with the opportunity of joining a network for the creation of personal support. Additional information is also available on this segment that specifically focuses on individuals with disabilities and how they should respond in case an emergency occurs (Department of Public Health 4).
Improvements
From my analysis, the website is well detailed. It contains basic information that is required to create awareness in a community in case of an emergency. However, for the website to effectively passes emergency preparedness and response information to the community, it should include audio-visual materials. In the current day and age that we are living in, individuals it is easier to pass information in an audio or visual format.
Besides, information that is passed using this format will also be accessible to individuals with disabilities. This includes deaf, blind, and mum. The website should also work in conjunction with other social networks such as Facebook and tweeter to reach large masses and individuals of all ages. This will make it easier for the public to get information, communicate, and come up with better strategies for emergency response. This will indeed ensure that the LA community is prepared for an emergency.
Works Cited
Department of Public Health. Emergency Preparedness and Response Program 2012. Web.