Shock events raise

Study shows planners could use people’s real-life experiences to get them prepared

People who have been involved in major accidents, or who serve as their office’s designated first-aider, are more likely to be prepared to deal with a big natural disaster in the future.

That’s according to a justpublished New Zealand study that investigated what spurs people to prepare for earthquakes, and how their life experiences might contribute to their motivation.

“We know that having some experience of previous earthquakes can prompt people to get prepared, through having a better understanding of how they might be impacted in future,” said lead author Dr Julia Becker, of GNS Science and Massey University’s Joint Centre for Disaster Research.

“Earthquakes also raise people’s concern and motivate their need to get prepared. We saw a flurry of preparedness activity in Wellington following the Kaikoura earthquake.”

Yet despite New Zealand being rocked by several large earthquakes in the past five years, many Kiwis still would not have experienced quakes.

This posed the question: what else might prompt them to prepare?

The study, based on a series of interviews with people around the country and published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, showed that people who lived with an ethos of “preparedness is a way of life” were more likely to be prepared.

Experiences such as helping out in an adverse event, being a civil defence volunteer, being involved in workplace safety, being a first aider, suffering ill-health, or being in an accident, all contributed, Becker said.

“So for those who haven’t been in a significant earthquake, we need to pay attention to people’s life experiences, and use those experiences as motivators of getting prepared.”

The researchers also found people’s “vicarious” experiences — such as speaking with family or friends who live in places like Canterbury — were also important.

“Their stories of how the earthquakes have impacted their lives can help people living outside the area understand what an earthquake might be like and what they might need to do to prepare.”

For those who had lived through disasters, the events would surely have rocked them into vigilance.

“For example, following the 2010 Darfield earthquake in Canterbury, a number of people stated that they didn’t get prepared because the earthquake didn’t impact them, and thus they thought future quakes wouldn’t