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The Impact of a National Earthquake Campaign on Public Preparedness: 2011 Campaign in Israel as a Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2015

Gilead Shenhar ,
Irina Radomislensky ,
Michael Rozenfeld  and
Kobi Peleg
Gilead Shenhar*
Affiliation:
Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Ramat Gan, Israel Disaster Medicine Department, Tel Aviv University, School of Public Health, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Irina Radomislensky
Affiliation:
Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Ramat Gan, Israel
Michael Rozenfeld
Affiliation:
Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Ramat Gan, Israel
Kobi Peleg
Affiliation:
Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Ramat Gan, Israel Disaster Medicine Department, Tel Aviv University, School of Public Health, Tel Aviv, Israel.
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Gilead Shenhar, EMBA, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Tel Hasomer Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, 52621 Israel (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Objective

The most effective way to reduce the number of expected victims and amount of damage from earthquakes is by effective preparedness. The Israeli government launched a national campaign to change its citizens’ behavior. This study assessed the effectiveness of the campaign on the Israeli population.

Methods

The survey was conducted 2 weeks after the campaign ended. It was based on a randomly selected representative sample of the adult Israeli population.

Results

Of the 42% of the Israeli public exposed to the campaign, 37% estimated that a strong earthquake might occur in Israel during the coming years. Only 23% of those who were exposed to the campaign (9% of the Israeli public) said that the campaign improved their awareness; 76% reported that after their exposure to the campaign they did nothing to prepare. However, exposure to the campaign significantly increased the knowledge of dealing with earthquakes (30% vs 21% among those not exposed).

Conclusions

Although the campaign increased knowledge and awareness, it did not achieve the goal of improving public preparedness. The campaign was not effective by itself, and it should be part of a multiyear activity. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:138-144)

Keywords

campaignpreparednessrisk communicationearthquake
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 138 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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