“I have learnt about panic. In 2009, we had a storm surge from the sea that covered most of this town,” recounts Arnel, who is one of 10 members of the local Philippine Red Cross Disaster Action Team, which not only responds in disaster situations but also works in non-disaster times to prepare the local community for the worst nature has to offer. Under a disaster-preparedness programme supported by Australian Red Cross, Arnel and his team are planting mangrove seedlings along the shoreline of Dupo, an island of 59 households, to lessen the impact of storm surges coming in from the sea. “We also run earthquake drills and teach communities what to do in a disaster. The most important advice I can give is be prepared”, adds Arnel. 110
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Emergency drills are a regular activity for many National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and not just limited to natural disasters. In the small Malaysian village of Kampung Tra Desa Lembah Keriang in the northern state of Kedah, more than 100 trained Malaysian Red Crescent Society volunteers gathered to test their readiness to respond to a large-scale disaster. Make-up artists spent hours creating extremely realistic looking injuries on local children and adults while the local police, the Malaysian fire and rescue department and other public officials worked alongside the Red Crescent volunteers preparing a scenario that would challenge the participants.