Disaster Guide (NEW)

Acknowledgements

Introduction & Purpose

Using This Guide
Technical Issues

Update History

Talking to Children

Notification Form

Introduction and Purpose

The purpose of this guide is to assist those who provide disaster safety information to the general public. The information presented is based on historical data for the United States and is appropriate for use in the United States and its territories. Some of the information may not apply to other countries. Users of this guide may include emergency managers, meteorologists, teachers, disaster (natural and human-caused) educators, public affairs/public relations personnel, mitigation specialists, media personnel, and communicators. If you would like more in-depth or scientific information, please contact your local emergency management office, local National Weather Service office, local American Red Cross chapter, state geological survey office, state foresters office, or local fire department.

The member organizations of the National Disaster Education Coalition, which work to deliver disaster preparedness information to the public, recognize that it is important for all agencies to provide consistent disaster safety messages. As a result, relevant messages in this guide have been reviewed and approved at the national level by the member organizations with expertise in those areas.

Many affiliates of the National Disaster Education Coalition’s member organizations have contributed to this guide, and their national organizations encourage them and their members to use the messages.

The messages and the information that supports them are intended to be used in educational presentations, displays and bulletin boards, print and electronic media, radio and television, and any other medium in which disaster safety is communicated to the public. The information is in the public domain and is intended to be used and shared without copyright restrictions. If you wish to cite the source when you use this material, the following is suggested: From: Talking About Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages. Produced by the National Disaster Education Coalition, Washington, D.C., 2004.

What Is in This Guide
This guide contains awareness and action messages intended to help people reduce their risk of injury or loss in the event of natural and human-caused disasters. Awareness messages provide general information about the threats presented by each type of disaster. These are found at the beginning of each chapter in a question-and-answer format. Action messages describe what people should do to prepare for and get safely through a disaster. These are found above detailed explanations of how to do it. Also included are statistics and other supporting information that reinforce the credibility and importance of each message.

New to this edition of the guide is a section in most chapters on "Facts and Fiction.” This section describes some of the common folklore, or fiction, about hazards and provides factual information that refutes the fiction. “Facts and Fiction” will help you answer commonly asked questions and communicate accurate information to the public, as well as help you avoid unintentionally passing on information that is not true.