Disaster Preparedness in Urban Immigrant Communities

Citation

(2009), "Disaster Preparedness in Urban Immigrant Communities", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2009.07318bab.002

Disaster Preparedness in Urban Immigrant Communities

Article Type: News items From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 18, Issue 2

Ann Bessie Mathew and Kimiko Kelly, A Tomas, Rivera Policy Institute and Asian Pacific American Legal Center Report, June 2008, 36 pp., free download, available at: www.trpi.org or www.apalc.org

This report, subtitled Lessons Learned from Recent Catastrophic Events and Their Relevance to Latino and Asian Communities in Southern California, found language barriers hinder emergency and disaster response, education, awareness, and training efforts and not enough is being done to translate to what the authors have termed “Limited English Proficient” immigrants. The report used qualitative research conducted in areas with large immigrant Latino, Chinese, and Vietnamese populations, a literature review, and case studies to formulate recommendations.

The key findings were:

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  government and nonprofit relief agencies do not provide culturally sensitive disaster preparedness education in appropriate languages;

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  there are no tools to offer immediate translation of emergency information to immigrant populations in Southern California;

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  first responders rely on bilingual family members, often children, to provide translations;

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  Latino, Chinese, and Vietnamese immigrants turn first to native language radio stations for emergency information; and

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  first response agencies do not consider immigration status in providing services, but they do not reassure the public that immigration status is not an issue, either.