Disaster Readiness: A Community - University Partnership

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina heightened public awareness of vulnerability to disasters and the need for disaster preparedness. Disaster-preparedness studies tend to focus on formal systems of healthcare and frontline healthcare providers, such as hospital personnel, public health staff, or emergency medical services workers who care for community members having serious injuries. Community members who are not seriously injured, however, are expected to care for themselves immediately after a disaster occurs. To date, little is known about the community members’ level of preparedness to meet their basic, self-care needs immediately following a disaster or the effectiveness of such preparedness education for the community. Yet, the health and safety of the general community following a disaster depends on its citizens’ level of preparedness to meet the needs not only of the seriously injured, but also of those with minimal or no injuries. Schools of nursing can play a vital role in enhancing the general public’s self-care ability following a disaster. The authors of this article describe a clinical learning experience that involved nursing students in a health education project related to one community’s desire to better prepare themselves for future disasters. A participatory action research (PAR) approach, which included collaboration with a community, involvement of the target community, and project evaluation, provided a framework for this disaster-preparedness initiative.