Identifying aid items of survival kit for natural disasters

Abstract

Incompatible aid supplies, in which received aid items do not match with the need of the victims, appears to be one of persistent problems in relief operations. The mismatch can be argued as the need of aid supplies may vary over time and the nature of disaster creates different need of aid items which are not available in standard survival kit. The purpose of the present paper is to empirically identify aid items that should be available in survival kit by considering time-after-disaster and the nature of disaster. A survey with a total of 120 respondents, was conducted in Bantul and Sleman districts where earthquake and volcanoes eruption have occurred respectively. The respondents were asked to rate the urgency level of the aid items during the first and the second week after disaster. Results indicate the time after disaster, the nature of disaster, and the culture are significant factors influencing the required items of the survival kit. Furthermore, the required aid items during the first week are significantly different than those during the second week after disaster. It is also worth mentioning that the type of disaster determines crucial specific aid items that should be provided in the survival kit.