Revealing Americans’ awareness and preparedness surrounding emergency situations

This survey report takes an in-depth look at American's attitudes and concerns regarding emergency preparedness and response, with the goal being to effectively address the host of human factors that impair or deter Americans from reacting in a responsible fashion to early warning alerts. Issues addressed: (i) Americans' communication preferences and likely behaviors in the event of an emergency; (ii) Americans' opinions on the current state of public safety with an emphasis on perceived utilization of existing resources and increasing levels of community investment; (iii) the emotional reactions of Americans to disaster and emergency situations; and (iv) the level of apathy towards public safety, notifications and alerts.

Survey results find that Americans lack critical knowledge of their local emergency alert and notification systems, and that Americans rely on local public officials to ensure safety.

The survey was conducted by the research firm Zogby International and sponsored by Federal Signal in cooperation with the Safe America Foundation and EMComm.