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Red Cross and EU promote community resilience to crisis
The Red Cross and the EU has launched a joint website to encourage and improve Europe-wide community preparation for emergencies such as flooding, flu pandemics, fires and terrorism.
The multi-lingual Informed Prepared Together website, www.informedprepared.eu, pulls together the best information from across the EU on how communities individuals, organisations, businesses and government at all levels can prepare themselves. It is the first time information from across Europe on how communities can best cope with threats has been made available on a single website.
"Emergencies and disasters are about people," said Moya Wood-Heath, the Informed Prepared Together Project Leader and Civil Protection Adviser to the British Red Cross and Red Cross / EU Office. "Rebuilding homes, businesses and cities is a difficult challenge, but rebuilding the lives of survivors, the bereaved and the wider community is no less important. Being informed, being prepared and working together not only reduces the threat and impact of emergencies, but can also speed recovery."
As well as information on the steps individuals and organisations can take to prepare, the site also hosts a library of downloadable and printable resources, including leaflets, calendars and a card game, to help spread the preparedness message.
"The site is designed to be useful for everybody; from individuals trying to find out how they can protect themselves and their families, to schools, community and voluntary groups and even governments," said Wood-Heath. "There is everything from games and leaflets aimed at children, right up to detailed plans of how to run a full-scale emergency response exercise, and it is all freely downloadable. This is an extremely valuable resource which, by sharing proven advice from across the continent, will undoubtedly help protect people and their communities."
