Community Support is Vital to Disaster Preparedness

In order for a disaster preparedness plan to be effective, there must be support from the entire community, says Christa Gallagher, DVM, CCRP, MPH, DACVPM, assistant professor of veterinary public health and epidemiology at the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.

“I think the other thing that came out yesterday that is really important to remember is is how important it is to identify all different stakeholders involved in some sort of a crisis, and really thinking about community members. Obviously we need buy-in from a community in order to, you know, have a good response, have a positive response, save lives, decrease injuries—and I mean human and animal lives. So that's really important to involve the community, and a well-informed community will really accept and be part of the implementation of a plan. So I think we forget about that.

A lot of times it's becomes a top-down approach, you know this expert, driven type of response and it really needs to involve the community. But again thinking more in the in the preparation phase so there are no surprises, or at least we plan for them as best we can.”