Dan's Adventures : If a Disaster Happened Who Would be Ready?

If a Disaster Happened Who Would be Ready?

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a summit put on by the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). Their goal was to create a training seminar for Presbyterian Women (PW) to use to get churches to create an emergency or disaster plan. This training would be taught by PDA members who would teach interested members of PW who would then have the option to train whomever they felt needed the training. This partnership was a good match because PDA wanted to extend to local congregations and PW wanted something new their members could get involved with. It was also a good fit because as one member of PDA put it “At seminary they told us you can influence the session the deacons just don’t get in the way of Presbyterian Women” so their members are highly motivated.

A few disclaimers, my last posts have been more about what I have been up to while in Little Rock. This post will be more of a call to action. In this post I want to start conversations about how the reader would handle a disaster not to supplement the training. I would recommend the training to anyone who wants to make sure their church is ready in case of a disaster or emergency. A good thing to know while reading this post is the difference between an emergency and disaster situation. An emergency is situation that calls about local responders and a disaster is a situation where local resources have been exhausted and outside help is needed. This is something I learned from the summit. Both of these can be man created, like a school shooting, or a natural disaster.

Most people assume a disaster can never happen in their community but that is what most people say before a disaster happens to them. The best time to plan how to handle a disaster or emergency is before it happens not during or after. A proper plan in place cannot stop a disaster from happening but can decrease the damage. While it is impossible to plan for every disaster situation some are more likely than others depending on where you live. For example it wouldn't make much sense to have a plan in place for a hurricane in Iowa but having a tornado plan in place would be more logical.

The first step in any disaster preparation is taking care of yourself and then after that your family. Anyone who has travelled by plane can probably tell you that you secure your own mask before assisting others. The same holds true for disaster situations. If you want to help others after a disaster you have to take care of yourself during the disaster. To do this you have to make sure you know what to do in case of a disaster. Do you know where to go in case of a tornado or any other disaster that might affected your area?

The topic that the summit focused on most was church preparedness. Many churches do not have plans in place for a disaster that takes place at their facility or how to handle an emergency or disaster if it happens in the community at large. Some churches might have the plans in place for a disaster or an emergency but how many people in the congregation actually know it. Churches aren't exempt from an emergency or a being part of a disaster.

One thing a church should have is an emergency plan in place if something happens when there are people at the church. If a fire broke out how does the church evacuate people especially the elderly? What if during a youth group night the tornado sirens go off where is the safest part in the church to go? How about if your church has an intruder during a youth group event? These are questions that a church should have a plan in place.

Another topic a church might want to talk about is the role the church plays after a disaster if something happened in the community. Does your church become a short-term housing option for people in the congregation that lose there house or for everyone who needs a place to stay? What if your church is damaged or destroyed? Where does your church meet? How about communication how does your church figure out the current conditions of the members. Does the church have phone numbers for the members of your church? Is there a backup plan in case the phone lines or cell phone towers also get knocked down? These are some questions that should at least be discussed and talked about.

Another level of the Presbyterian Church we talked about at the summit is having a plan at the Presbytery level. For those who aren’t familiar with the Presbyterian Church the Presbytery is the governing office for churches in the same area. Some Presbytery’s have disaster committees others do not. We talked about what role the Presbytery take on after a disaster and how they should do that. Do you know what the Presbytery or if you’re not Presbyterian the larger church office role is after a disaster is, and how to contact them to see the resources they might have?

I hope this post gets you thinking more about disaster planning. The best time to plan for a disaster isn't during and after its before. Having a good plan in place can lessen the blow of a disaster or emergency and could save lives. Many people, churches and Presbytery’s aren't prepared. I encourage you to take the steps to create a plan in becoming more prepared for a disaster or an emergency and if you are interested taking the training seminar the Presbyterian Women will be putting on. Let me know if you have any questions.

Bonus Photos

I realized that I haven’t posted any photos recently here are some random picks.