BS-R-1: Information on how to act in a disaster situation | Umweltbundesamt

BS-R-1: Information on how to act in a disaster situation

In 2016, 44 percent of respondents to the environmental awareness survey stated that they had informed themselves on the appropriate behaviour in disaster situations, while another 20 percent stated that they intended to do so in future. Slightly more than half of respondents do not think that this is necessary.

Information and knowledge – building blocks for self-help

The population’s ability to protect themselves is an important component of civil protection. The term self-protection encompasses the total of individual measures taken by the public, the authorities and/or businesses for the prevention, precautionary measures and self-help required for coping with events. By behaving appropriately in emergencies, citizens can protect their own safety and that of their fellow human beings at the same time helping to improve overall safety.

In case of an accident or emergency situation, emergency teams need time to reach a location and provide the necessary assistance. In case of an accident, it might just take minutes whereas in weather-related extreme events it can take considerably longer for rescue teams to arrive in sufficient numbers enabling them to assist everyone concerned. It can also happen that the extent of the emergency location is particularly widespread making it difficult to reach all individuals in need of assistance as fast as necessary. In order to protect life and limb and to protect material assets, it is therefore of particular importance for citizens to be able to help themselves in the first instance until the fire brigade, rescue service or emergency services arrive to provide assistance in a more organised way in events such as severe tempests, extraordinarily heavy falls of snow, flash floods or largescale flooding

To this end, it is vital that appropriate assistance is provided by a person well acquainted with the potential impacts of damaging events before they actually occur. It therefore matters that as many people as possible are familiar with the potential risks and well informed regarding the appropriate behaviour in emergency situations. Technical progress in the processing and dissemination of geographic information over recent years has produced numerous sources available to citizens to inform themselves regarding risks that may exist either locally or regionally. For example, the internet provides information on flooding risks some of which is precisely focused on individual land parcels, or information on geological risks such as mass movements, landslides or risks of storm damage. The GDV offers its ‘Kompass Naturgefahren’ on the internet which provides online estimates for individual addresses on natural hazards such as flooding, storm and hailstorm, lightning and overvoltages. For the time being, however, such data are not yet available contiguously nationwide.

On the basis of their awareness of risks which might exist regarding the area where they live or work, citizens can obtain information on the appropriate behaviour in emergency situations. On one hand, it is important to develop and maintain general skills in courses such as First Aid. On the other, information material is made available by authorities. At Federal Government level, the BBK provides information on appropriate behaviour in emergencies, for example by means of leaflets and through its website. Besides, citizens can subscribe to the Federal Government’s warnings app NINA (Emergency Information and News App) to receive warnings in respect of civil protection or storm warnings issued by the DWD which also provides flood information via its transnational Flood Portal for both individually selectable locations and for their own location. In addition, there are information services provided by individual Länder and in some cases by competent municipal authorities.

The proportion of respondents who in the representative environmental awareness survey^I stated to have familiarised themselves with the appropriate behaviour in case of emergencies has risen slightly. While in 2012 the figure was 38 %, this value had risen to 52 % in 2014, with 44 % of all respondents in 2016 stating that they had obtained the relevant information.

Also the proportion of respondents who intend to obtain information in future has increased from 10 % in 2012 to 20 % in 2016. Although these figures do not reveal the degree of intensity in which the respondents looked into the range of risks and possible behavioural responses, they do indicate that more than half of respondents appreciate the need for such information. Besides, it should be borne in mind when interpreting these figures that not all citizens are exposed equally to all weather-related natural hazards. For example, storm surges or flooding occurs along coastlines and in river basins whereas other areas are not or distinctly less frequently and less severely affected by such events. Even though the overall demand for information varies, widespread knowledge of fundamental rules of behaviour in emergencies would be desirable in view of the (in some cases) considerable spatial extent of areas at risk (for example from heat); another important point is that the event (such as heavy rain) might occur practically anywhere; last not least, the high mobility of German citizens must be taken into account.

^{I - The representative population survey (of German-speaking residents aged 14 or more years) entitled Environmental Awareness and Behaviour in Germany (Umweltbewusstsein und -verhalten in Deutschland) has been carried out every two years since 2000 on behalf of the BMU and the UBA. Since 2012, additional questions have been asked in the survey, intended to supply data for DAS monitoring indicators; from 2016 onwards, these questions are asked every four years in the environmental awareness surveys.}

Interfaces

BS-R-2: Precautionary measures for protection of the public

FiW-I-2: Incidence of storms and floods

HUE-2: Usage of warning and information services

Objectives

Further enhancement of the dissemination of risk communication among citizens; providing support for precautionary measures; making improvements in respect of real-time, clear and effective warnings and information communicated to the public in respect of civic health protection. (DAS, ch. 3.2.14)

Reducing, as far as possible, the consequences of severe disruptions and failures of critical infrastructures by making sure (...) that people directly affected by a disaster event possess an effective capacity for self-help (KRITIS-Strategie, ch. 5)