Starting next week, authorities in the Netherlands will distribute a guide with instructions so that citizens know how to act in the first 72 hours after a serious crisis, the interim executive announced this Tuesday. As instructions are so that citizens know how to act in the first 72 hours after a serious crisis.
The document, entitled “Prepare for an emergency situation”, has 33 pages and will be distributed between November 25th and January 10th. According to the Government, the initiative aims to reinforce the population’s preparedness in a country considered “very vulnerable” to extreme scenarios such as natural disasters, cyberattacks, blackouts and a possible armed conflict.
The information leaflet brings together practical advice so that citizens can be independent in the first days after a disaster, a period in which authorities are unable to immediately reach the entire population. The measure comes in a context of greater alert within NATO, after Secretary General Mark Rutte last year called on Europeans to “mentally prepare for war” in the face of the Russian threat, a warning to which the Dutch Government associated other risks, such as pandemics or failures in digital infrastructure.
Among the scenarios described are computer attacks that leave the country without electricity, the impossibility of contacting family, empty supermarkets, closed service stations and doubts regarding access to drinking water. Acting Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, stressed that the objective “is not to generate fear”, but to increase society’s resilience. “If people think ahead in the first 72 hours, they feel safer and are better prepared,” he said.
The guide recommends preparing an emergency kit with copies of identification documents, a map of the neighborhood, non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered radio and a whistle to alert rescue teams. It also suggests that families plan who will pick up their children from school if communications fail, how to support neighbors with reduced mobility or what measures to take if public transport is interrupted.
Brekelmans admitted that, in a large-scale disaster, “no Government can help door to door”, noting that the Dutch army may have to allocate more resources to Eastern Europe in the coming years, which increases the population’s need for greater autonomy. A prepared society, he added, also works as a deterrent: “If an adversary knows that an attack will not destabilize us, it no longer makes sense to attempt it.”