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NPM11: The Ethics Of Preparation

 

 

 

Note: This is day 3 of National Preparedness Month.  Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NPM11 hash tag.

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This month, as part of NPM11, I’ll be rerunning some edited and updated older preparedness essays, along with some new ones.

 

 

 

# 5810

 

 

Over the years - when talking about emergency preparedness - a few people I’ve met have felt that it was somehow unfair, or even unethical, for those with greater financial means to prepare for disasters while those with fewer resources are be unable to do so.

 

A noble and egalitarian sounding idea, I suppose.

 

But the reality is that when more people are prepared before a crisis, fewer people will be competing for finite and sometimes slow-to-arrive emergency assistance in the days following a disaster.

 

And when you as an individual, family, or business are prepared, you are in a better position to offer help to friends, neighbors, relatives, or your community.

 

Which makes prepping not only ethical, but extremely practical as well.  

 

And it isn’t just me saying that.

 

In October, 2008 I wrote a blog which highlighted the John's Hopkins Study entitled Ethics and Severe Pandemic Influenza: Maintaining Essential Functions through a Fair and Considered Response.

 

It included the following snippet from the summary provided on  the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics website.

 

. . .  individuals and families who can afford it should do their best to prepare for any disaster. The paper notes, the more initiative the general public exercises in stockpiling several weeks' worth of food, water, paper goods, batteries medicines, and other needed supplies, the less vulnerable they will be to a break in the supply chain.

 

It is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.

 

While this may not have been the main thrust of this paper's message, it is a powerful component. One that bloggers such as myself have been trying to promote for several years.

 

As long as our supply chains are intact, grocery store shelves are full and capable of being restocked, and no major shortages exist it is not hoarding, selfish, or unethical to be stockpiling a reasonable amount of emergency supplies for you, your family, and others you might be able to assist during a disaster.

 

During a crisis, relief agencies will have their hands full trying to help those who were unable to prepare, or who lost their preps due to a disaster.

 

By being prepared in advance, you take some of that burden off these agencies, which will allow them to concentrate their efforts on helping those less able to help themselves.

 

And by being prepared, you are in a better position to help others as well.

 

And that’s a win-win situation. For you, your family, and your whole community.

 

The American Red Cross sponsors a Do More Than Cross Your Fingers preparedness campaign. Spokesperson Jamie Lee Curtis has made a video that can get you started. 

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You can also follow the Red Cross on Twitter by subscribing to @RedCross.

 

While 72 hours is considered the minimum amount of  time for which you and your family should be prepared, there is nothing that says you shouldn’t strive to do better than that.

 

A week or more of emergency supplies is a laudable, and easily obtainable, goal. 

 

The Red Cross isn’t alone in promoting disaster preparedness. Over the past decade, personal and community preparedness has become a national goal.

 

For more information, visit:

 

FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm

READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/

 

It’s really the ethical thing to do.

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Disaster

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