Citizens’ Preparedness to Deal with Emergencies as an Important Component of Civil Protection

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to point out a new approach in evaluating the preparedness of the population of a selected city for civil protection and its response to emergencies. Using new approaches, it evaluates a subjective questionnaire survey in combination with the objective state thanks to a mathematical approach and its subsequent verification on a specific example. The proposed approaches are then verified by experimental surveys in the selected city. The result is a highly adaptable tool that can be set up and adapted to different situations and different types of questionnaires to address the preparedness and safety of the population for emergencies. Thanks to this tool, it is possible to evaluate the subjective opinions of the population and thus gain insight into the assessment of the city’s preparedness for emergencies. Subsequently, we can set the prevention and preparedness of the population in the city on the basis of the obtained outputs, which potentially has a fundamental influence on the response after the occurrence of an emergency. Improving preparedness in the area of civil protection shall not only be reflected in the response and minimization of the consequences of the emergency, but also in the emotional security of the population.