An “emergency bag” for every French person in the event of evacuation due to extreme weather events: this is one of the recommendations of the French Red Cross in a report on the resilience of French society, which notes a lack of preparation of the population.
Heat wave, drought, forest fires, floods : climate change is already part of the daily lives of the French, but they are not ready to answer itestimates this study by the Red Cross, in collaboration with Credoc, the Research Center for the study and observation of living conditions, published Thursday.
Bottle of water, flashlight, food and warm clothes
“75% (of French people) do not feel prepared for floods, 73% for forest fires, 59% for heatwaves”, according to an OpinionWay survey for the French Red Cross.
Faced with climatic disasters which “continue to intensify and multiply”, the humanitarian aid association therefore formulates ten proposals to improve crisis management. In particular, the French should all have an emergency bag within reach, a “Catakit”, ready in the event of an evacuation and including, for example, non-perishable food, water, a first aid kit, clothing and a flashlight, to wait for help to arrive. **”**Only 11% of French people have an emergency bag ready, and less than half know the essential items to put in it. details the OpinionWay survey.
Less than half of French people trained in first aid
Another recommendation: training in lifesaving actions and behaviors. “Today it is estimated that only 40% of French people have recently followed training in life-saving gestures, compared to 95% in Norway or 80% in Germany,” notes the report.
The Red Cross therefore invites training at least 80% of the population take actions that savebut also to “build up a corps of volunteers ready to be deployed” or even to “pre-position stocks of equipment and logistical resources”. She also calls for greater awareness among the French of extreme events, for example with the national exercise day on October 13.
A “very hot” plan
The Red Cross also recommends the establishment of a “very hot” plan, like the “very cold” plan, in the event of a heatwave, with devices to protect the most vulnerable. The report highlights “disparities” in the face of climatic phenomena, which “affect the most vulnerable more, by thriving on socio-economic and territorial inequalities”, underlines the president of the French Red Cross, Philippe Da Costa.
Finally, if the Red Cross salutes the development of climate change observatories in the regions and the multiplication of municipal protection plans, she deplores at the same time the reductions in credits allocated to civil protection associations.
This report “calls for action quickly and forcefully, both at the individual and collective level. Without this, we will have to assume the dizzying cost of inaction and unpreparedness, compounded by the weight of the feeling of powerlessness,” writes Philippe Da Costa.
