New report focuses on sheltering in place and the public's readiness | 09.24.2007 | 07:52:15 | Views: 6064 | ID: September 24 '07:The New York Academy of Medicine's Redefining Readiness Workgroup, a consortium of public health experts and medical officials sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has released a new report focusing on "sheltering-in-place" - the practice of staying in one place during a disaster to seek refuge, such as in a home, church, school, office or any other structure. The report, released last week, found that many people would not be able to shelter-in-place, creating additional hazards for those helping to respond to the disaster and those affected by it. The report wrote, "Only three-fifths (59%) of the population would stay inside a building other than their own home for as long as officials told them," in the event of a dirty bomb attack. "This is cause for concern because people who do not shelter in place will endanger themselves and others." The report continued: "If a lot of people in the danger zone do not shelter in place, they will crowd the streets and roads when they leave their buildings, making it more difficult for first responders to get to the scene of the explosion," or other disaster. The report suggests that taking proactive measures through creating education frameworks to help teach importance of sheltering-in-place would help to mitigate possible damages. "By integrating the use of the sheltering-in-place issue sets in grant programs - and by providing other incentives and supports - government agencies and private philanthropies can enable schools and work places throughout the country" to become better prepared. The Redefining Readiness group also has worked recently to teach and disseminate best practices and cooperative measures among health organizations through hosting symposia and conferences.(Click below to download file) sheltering-in-place.pdf
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