CASE STUDY-I Preparedness pays

In Tamil Nadu, the GOI-UNDP Programme is being implemented in 13 districts: (64 blocks,
2463 gram panchayats, 3397 villages, and in 17 Urban Local Bodies). Village disaster
management teams were constituted to undertake search and rescue, and to administer first aid.
In order to get more clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the teams, mock drills were also
conducted. The creation of regional Early Warning Systems, and Risk and Vulnerability
Assessments can be very cost effective to focus on local level and support communities to take
simple disaster preparedness measures. Forging basic communication chains can help spread
warnings effectively and save lives. In Samiyarpettai, a quiet village by the sea in Tamil Nadu,
the GOI-UNDP's efforts to make the villagers aware of the risks posed by natural phenomena
such as cyclones were first seen as no more than a diversion. When the Anna school of
Management first reached out to the villagers and attempted to involve them in learning survival
strategies to deal with incidents such as cyclones, the women were conspicuous by their absence.
For two years later, when the Tsunami struck, the villagers of Samiyarpettai knew exactly what
to do to face the calamity. They were aware of how to reach safer, higher ground, to make use of
empty barrels as rafts, and were trained in first aid techniques that saved lives, and minimized
injuries. The death toll in Samiyarpettai was 22, much lower than in neighboring areas. And the
villagers themselves acknowledged, “Many more of us would have been killed if we had not
been trained.” Another initiative that has the potential to make a big difference to the outcome
when accidents and other natural hazard or human-induced disasters occur is the awareness and
training level of the police and doctors. The Police are often the first to arrive at the scene of an
accident whether it is a traffic accident, or the scene of a crime, or any other natural or man-made
disaster. However, they are often not trained to deal with the victims. Doctors believe that it
should be mandatory for police personnel to be trained in first aid so that they can provide
speedy relief to the victims till the time a doctor arrives or they are taken to a hospital. Doctors
from the state government were called upon to train police personnel and this exercise was
sponsored by Medisphere Marketing Private Limited. In June 2006, doctors trained police
personnel in 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh. While this initiative was seen to be successful in terms
of resource mobilization, forging partnerships between different departments involved with
DRM activities, a greater emphasis on the quality of the Programme, and less on meeting targets
would, it was believed, lead to better outcomes.