The 2005 earthquake, worst in the 69 years history of Pakistan is being remembered as a nightmare. Due to lack of contingency planning and preparedness both at government and community level the disaster became out the capacity of the entire nation. Amongst the 180 million of population, hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic individuals arrived almost everywhere in the worst hit areas to help people in need but it is believed, without exaggeration, that less than 1 out of 7,000 persons may have some training of First Aid. That’s why numerous died even after being approached, well in time. Afterwards, other earthquakes in Pishin, Gilgit, Awaran, Chitral, devastating cyclone Yemyin in 2007, and fierce flooding in 2010, 2012 and 2014 have caused severe damages to infrastructures, agriculture, livestock and above all to human lives.
We had identified that there is no institution or mechanism available for Disaster Preparedness and Civil Protection in Pakistan. A permanent Academy for the comprehensive research, studies and training in all the relevant fields was needed to be established. Our goal was to fill this gap by laying foundations of a dedicated Academy in Pakistan.
We envisage that in future, PRIDEA as a resource center may not only cater such needs in Pakistan but the trained individuals especially the ERT- Emergency Response Teams may gain sufficient knowledge, experience and expertise at PRIDEA to come forth and respond to any disaster in the neighboring countries, as well. In this regard, we have closely observed the great success of EFAT Program during past 9 years. To move ahead to other targets for preparedness we will take a practical start with EFAT Programs on regular basis which we could not offer on regular basis due to the absence of required facilities and infrastructure.