Japan is a country famous for its disaster management. One of their methods, although not too complicated but proven effective, is to promptly compile documents about typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, etc. that occur during the year. Based on this understanding, the Japanese Ministry of Education added content about disaster mitigation to its curriculum guidelines.
Japanese students are taught about disasters that may occur in their communities and disaster prevention measures starting in elementary school. In some places, students are required to practice disaster prevention every month.
At the family level, each family is given a set of documents on disaster prevention and control by the district/police department. Each family has a first aid kit. The first aid kit/backpack includes a hat, gloves, flashlight, biscuits, and 2-3 bottles of water.
(A family and school emergency bag/backpack in Japan)
For foreigners coming to Japan to study, live, work, or travel, the district, ward, school, or workplace will issue a copy of the "Handbook for Disaster Prevention and Infectious Disease Control for Foreign Nationals". As for the version the author of this article is referring to, this document was compiled, published, and distributed by Komagane City. This handbook consists of 14 pages, with many illustrations.
The handbook provides basic information about the signs of natural disasters: earthquakes, storms, heavy rains, landslides, weather information. After recognizing the signs of each type of natural disaster, what should people prepare when evacuating? And where to evacuate? All this information is only fourteen pages. Therefore, readers can grasp it quickly and easily.
Illustration from the book "Handbook on Disaster Prevention and Infectious Disease Control for Foreign Nationals".
In Vietnam, in addition to the system of legal documents such as the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control; Law on Dikes; Law on Civil Defense; we also have plans for natural disaster prevention and control at the commune, district, provincial, ministerial and central levels. A number of specialized agencies have issued documents on natural disaster prevention and control. For example, the "White Book on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in 2023"; "Guidelines for the Central Disaster Response Team's Operations", "Standard Procedures in Disaster Response"...
The above documents are all necessary, but from a citizen's perspective, I see that the common characteristic of many documents is that they are compiled in an administrative style, heavily focused on management, reporting and... internal circulation.
Some international organizations in Vietnam such as Oxfarm and Live&Learn have invested in compiling and illustrating manuals on natural disaster prevention and control, but due to limited resources, these documents have not been widely disseminated to the grassroots level, especially in provinces and cities that frequently suffer from natural disasters.
Therefore, in my opinion, one of the urgent issues for disaster prevention and control in the coming time is to compile, disseminate, and guide disaster prevention and control to educational institutions, from kindergartens, primary schools, junior high schools, high schools; to villages, communes/wards, districts/counties. The "output standard" of this guidance is that learners have basic knowledge and skills to respond to natural disasters.
I propose the following recommendations:
Firstly , urgently compile publications, handbooks/guidelines on natural disaster prevention and control with basic, practical content, many illustrations, easy to understand, for the general public.
Second , provinces that often have natural disasters, based on the general handbook, compile and train in accordance with the geography, soil, climate, population, and intelligence of the province or region. For example, disaster prevention instructions in urban Hanoi are different from those in rural and mountainous areas such as Cao Bang, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai.
Third, after the provinces that frequently have natural disasters have compiled the document set, it needs to be widely distributed; the Department of Education and Training of the provinces should include the content of natural disaster prevention and control in the curriculum suitable for all levels of education and residential areas to guide students to have awareness, knowledge and basic skills on natural disaster prevention and control.
Fourth , it is necessary to compile documents and provide training for each subject. For example, documents for subjects performing professional relief, rescue, and disaster relief as prescribed by law such as soldiers, police, militia, and shock troops; documents for supporting the medium- and long-term recovery of natural disasters; documents for groups participating in disaster relief such as volunteers, etc.
In Japan, there are many disaster prevention handbooks from the central, city, and school levels... Like the two documents I refer to in this article, "Disaster Prevention Handbook for Foreigners" in Tsuruoka City and Komagane City.
Disaster prevention and control handbooks combined with training and practice programs can help raise awareness, understanding and skills in disaster prevention and control for children and adults. Combined with other disaster prevention and control measures such as legislation, forecasting, planning, rescue, etc., we can minimize human and property damage when natural disasters strike.
Author: Mr. Trinh Minh Tuan is the founder of Quang Van Publishing and Education Joint Stock Company, Ehomebooks and IPER Publishing - Education Research Center.
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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/tam-diem/cam-nang-phong-chong-thien-tai-cho-nguoi-dan-20240919092151262.htm
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