Philadelphia university partners with federal government and other org's to address minority preparedness

| 09.24.2007 | 08:17:077796 |

September 24 '07: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported over the weekend that Drexel University, the National Resource Center Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities, and the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have partnered to release a new report looking at minority populations' preparedness and the ways in which those communities can become more involved in their larger state, regional and national preparedness programs.

The fruit of the cooperative effort is a new report just released which "showed that minorities, when compared to others, saw less risk from disasters, were more skeptical of warnings, were less likely to evacuate, were less likely to receive disaster education, and relied more on family and TV for information," the Philly Inquirer reported.

Those findings were presented in Washington D.C. on September 10 and 11 during the National Consensus Panel on Emergency Preparedness and Cultural Diversity.

Local officials in the city have said the findings are important for emergency managers and local government leaders because many of Philadelphia's outlying suburbs are "diverse populations" which are made of many minority populations.

The Inquirer reported, "The report cites the need to overcome language barriers, ensure that disaster education is tailored to diverse groups, coordinate government outreach to minority groups, and include minority concerns in national and state policies."

According to the report, failure to engage the minority populations "as evidenced by the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, offers a graphic portrait of what happens when the unique needs of communities are not part of preparedness planning and execution."