GEMA's Ready Georgia Campaign Makes Impact on Preparedness Rates across State

Agency finds Georgians aware of its campaign 23 percent more likely to be prepared for emergencies

(ATLANTA) After two years of promoting personal emergency preparedness through its Ready Georgia campaign, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) sees improvements in how prepared residents are to face both natural and manmade disasters. The agency launched the campaign in January 2008 to educate and motivate residents to prepare, and a January 2010 study commissioned by Ready Georgia shows that the number of fully unprepared Georgians has dropped by 21 percent since the campaign’s launch.

“After our baseline survey showed that 80 percent of Georgians admitted to being unprepared and didn’t know how to prepare, we knew we had to take action,” said Charley English, director of GEMA/Homeland Security. “Knowing that more residents are taking responsibility for preparedness indicates that more people will be safe in the event of a disaster.”

The 2010 survey findings show that residents aware of Ready Georgia have a deeper understanding of what it means to be prepared and have taken critical steps since learning about the campaign. Those aware of Ready Georgia displayed this year a:

• 33 percent increase in putting together a Ready kit for the car
• 21 percent increase in setting aside extra prescription medications
• 18 percent increase in conducting fire or evacuation drills
• 14 percent increase in arranging a family meeting place

While preparedness rates are improving, GEMA recognizes that it still has a long way to go in making all Georgians their own first responders. Only 22 percent of residents are fully prepared for 72 hours, as recommended, with a Ready kit, emergency plan and information on disaster response.

To help residents prepare, Ready Georgia offers an online planning tool that generates custom Ready kit checklists of emergency supplies and helps families create tailored emergency communications plans. More than 1,600 households took advantage of the tool in 2009.

Over the past 12 months, most Georgians say they have stocked at least some emergency supplies:

• 82 percent are prepared with a flashlight and extra batteries
• 76 percent have a first aid kit, a three percent increase from 2009
• 51 percent have stocked extra supplies for pets, up from just 34 percent in 2009

However, many Georgians have not stocked some critical emergency supplies in the past year:

• 70 percent do not have a NOAA Weather Radio, a potentially life-saving device
• 75 percent do not have face masks to filter contaminated air
• 64 percent do not have a whistle to signal for help
• 22 percent do not have a three-day supply of nonperishable food and water

About Ready Georgia
Ready Georgia is a statewide campaign designed to educate and empower Georgians to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, potential terrorist attacks and other large-scale emergencies. The campaign is a project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and provides a local dimension to Ready America, a broader national campaign. Ready Georgia aims to prepare citizens for maintaining self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours following an emergency, and uses an interactive Web site, online community toolkit, broadcast and print advertising and public awareness media messaging to reach its audiences. Ready Georgia is also on Facebook and YouTube.