hazard preparedness plan

Your hazard preparedness plan will be completed in four key steps as follows. Use headings and sub-headings within your plan and note that page numbers provide a guide to the amount of text required for each section (assuming 12pt font, 1.5 spacing), any images would be additional.
Summary of hazard and personal risk impact statement (~1-1.5 pages): In the introduction to your project you should provide a summary of the hazard and outline how this will impact you and your specific community. For this part of the assignment, you may draw upon or expand on the information that you compiled for Assignment 2 (Local Hazard Assessment). Your hazard summary should provide key information such as the type of hazard you are focusing on, why this is potential threat to the area you live in and what type of hazard scenario you are preparing for. For example, in the case of an earthquake you might explain that you are preparing for scenario of a megathrust earthquake over above 9 magnitude. or for floods, a 100-year flood risk scenario. Your risk assessment will build upon part 3 of your local hazard assessment assignment to clearly outline the risks that you will face in your specific community from such a hazard event. You should mention here a range of potential hazard outcomes. For example, if your primary focus is an earthquake this would not only produce ground shaking and structural damage but might also trigger a landslide if you live in an area of steep slopes, or it might generate a tsunami risk if you live on low-lying land near the coast. Each hazard will produce risks specific to a particular location. Make sure you do a thorough search in exploring likely hazard impacts in your community. This will enable you to identify relative risk exposure and susceptibility in relation to specific locations and you can later apply this information in your hazard plan. For example, if some areas are more likely to be impacted by liquefaction in an earthquake you might want to avoid this location, or if a particular road or highway is likely to be exposed to flooding or debris floods this would influence your evacuation options. In describing the local geographic risk, you may wish to include maps/images. Detailed hazard action plan (~3-4 pages): In the main part of your assignment you will outline the steps that you will take to be prepared for your hazard and in response to its occurrence. You need to address steps that you would take before, during and after your hypothetical hazard event. In researching this step, you should refer to documents on hazard preparedness and identify only those steps that are relevant to your specific hazard and personal situation. In the resources section below, links to some general hazard preparedness resources for Canada and British Columbia are given to get you started in thinking through some of the key things to consider. However, it is important that you also consult hazard preparedness resources relevant to the specific hazard you are focusing on and to the particular area you live in (e.g. Surrey, North Vancouver, Burnaby, etc.). For example, it is not enough to say you will identify evacuation routes or locate a safe place to shelter; you need to identify such routes or places in your local area, and you might even think about including maps to show these. You will also need to modify your list to consider the different settings and situations where you are exposed to hazards and should be specific about the steps you are taking in relation to each hazard scenario. Some tips for developing you plan are listed below:
• Try to imagine yourself in each type of hazard situation and think about what would be useful to cope with the specific risks and disruptions likely to be encountered.
• Apply your steps to your own personal situation and think about how you would assist others in your household.
• Be creative in imagining the different scenarios that you may need to plan for, such as when you are at home, work, on campus or during recreational activities.
• In relation to during and after the hazard event, consider how you would evacuate and where you would get support or reconnect with family.
• Think about situations where people were not well prepared and identify the extra steps that could have been taken in such cases.
• Discuss your plan with others to make sure you have covered all scenarios and steps. We will also discuss this in the next review session, and you should have a summary of steps by this point to elicit feedback on your plan from others.
Personal Emergency Kit (~1 page): Compile an emergency kit of items that you will need during your hazard event. You should include an image for each item and a brief description of why you need this item or how you intend to use it in the event of a hazard occurring. This kit should not simply be copied from another source but should be personalized for your own use in relation to the hazard scenarios you have identified. In the past some students have chosen to actually put together a kit and photograph this with an accompanying description, while others have compiled individual images from other sources and added their own description. Either option in fine.
Infographic/ poster (~1 page): Prepare a visual summary of your key hazard preparedness steps. Think of this like a public information poster advising people in your local community of the hazard threat and giving very clear directions about key actions they should take before, during and after this event. There are lots of examples from emergency planning agencies that will give you some inspiration, but this should be your own original work and should be written in your own words. If you copy a poster from another source this will not be awarded any marks. There are a number of free online infographic applications you can use to develop your visual summary and make it look professional (e.g. Piktochart, Canva). A hand-drawn poster is also fine if you want to get creative. The key thing is to clearly relay your message and demonstrate what you have learned about hazard preparedness in a concise and effective way. Your poster should be both informative and eye-catching! Once you have prepared your poster you can either copy it into the main document or submit it as a separate file to the eLearn folder.
Assignment format and references The project should be prepared as follows:
• Cover page with student name, ID, title of project and image illustrating your topic
• Text should be 6-7 pages (excl. bibliography) (1.5 spaced, 12pt font, ~2000-2500 words)
• Use headings and sub-headings to demarcate key sections
• Maps, images and diagrams are additional (add title/ source for these)
• Carefully edit your submission for grammar, spelling and formatting
• Use proper citation format (APA style; in-text and bibliography at the end)