Some Issues in Emergency Management. Public Views in 1987

摘要

This report presents an overview of findings, derived from a 1987 national telephone survey, on current public sentiment as it relates to numerous crucial civil defense issues and concerns. A primary objective is to provide empirically based insight into some of the common arguments, presented as reflecting public attitudes and perceptions, that must be evaluated as decisions on complex national policy alternatives are weighted. Emergency planning and preparedness measures, in place or considered for future implementation, that address the threat of national disasters, technological hazards, and particularly those relevant to the threat of a nuclear confrontation are explored. The public's perception of what the principle goals of civil defense should be is questioned. Their acceptance of a nuclear attack as a credible threat is assessed, as well as their estimates of probable survival rates under a variety of passive defense conditions. The perceived viability and value of alternative civil defense measures and the public's expectations regarding governmental responsibility for implementing such measures are explored. Willingness to finance such measures or to reallocate existing funds to civil defense efforts is reported as another indication of support. The acceptability of crisis relocation is evaluated through inquiries into the public's support for the development of a national relocation plan, their intentions to evacuate when threatened, either spontaneously or in compliance to a Presidential directive and their expectations of such a directive becoming a reality. Keywords: Civil Defense, Nuclear war, Evacuation, Volunteering, Emergency preparedness, Nuclear energy, Risk, Emergency management, Disaster. (SDW)