The American Preparedness Project: Where the US Public Stands in 2015

Abstract

The American Preparedness Project was launched by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) in 2002, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in order to survey public perceptions and opinions on disaster preparedness and to acknowledge that a comprehensive understanding of the concerns of individuals and families is critical to emergency planning efforts on all levels. Characterizing such trends is critical because in order to develop effective disaster plans, as well as a sustainable long term disaster preparedness strategy, people need to be confident in (a) the reliability of information from official sources, (b) the capacity of government to perform effectively in a crisis and (c) the capability of response systems, particularly health systems and first responders.The major findings of the 2015 American Preparedness Project are presented in the Key Findings section of this report. The American Preparedness Project survey has been administered eight times since the launch of the project in 2002. Although the content of the questionnaire has changed over time to reflect the changing disaster landscape, a select set of questions has been asked in every iteration of the survey in order to capture changes over time.These questions are presented in the National Trends Since 9/11 section of this report and capture national confidence in household and community preparedness, response systems, and leadership. Following the overview of national trends over time, the report highlights findings from the current survey (see Key Findings in 2015) across the domains of General Preparedness, Natural Disasters and Climate Change,Terrorism, and Children in Disasters. The report concludes with Recommendations for improving national, community and household-level preparedness