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.
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| A picture of me leading 2nd Pres. of Little Rocks youth group. |
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| The YAV's at a retreat with members of Ferncliff's 2015 Summer Staff |
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| Alex and I planting during one of our community days. |
