Rescue is not saving lives in disaster

 We firmly stand by our conviction that the only way to deal with calamity is to undertake precautionary measures at the earliest possible time.

This means that the greatest number of pro-active steps should be taken, before disaster strikes the community.

As advocates of rescue and self-rescue, we firmly believe that it is more important to save a life long before the danger has arrived. As soon as the disaster hits a community, the chances for avoiding loss of life is considerably reduced thus the potential victims’ rate of survival can even diminish to zero. More than six years ago, we have looked at the situation from this perspective:

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This is the reason for our aggressive campaign after Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) for relocatisecuring liveson to temper the popular worldwide notion and multi million dollar and euro financed campaigns for just building community resilience per se. Part of the positive inclination of select populations towards the same view is manifest in the decision to relocate by the people of Sendai, Japan despite the difficulty in obtaining Japan national government funding. The Sendai residents determined to push through with relocating to higher ground after the tsunami experience on March 11, 2011.

Relocation to safer ground is a major keystone in our paradigm for safeguarding human life before and during disaster, rescue, recovery and disaster relief and response. In our view, mitigation of loss of life during disaster will even entail international migration. That is why we push and push for an international assembly where once and for all, the members of the world community of nations will agree and make it binding in a solid declaration that during the discovery of the real portent of a major disaster, the municipal rules governing immigration shall be waived until the calamity has fully subsided. Repeatedly we have echoed this view and we shall continue such advocacy until and after it has been accepted on the broadest spectrum possible. Some countries have always been lenient toward neighbor countries. But this happens when war, violent conflict, or other catastrophe in its incumbency engulf entire communities, result in massive loss of lives and drive the remaining populations therein as far away as possible for safety and survival.

In our case, the disaster has not yet hit the community, but the migration may already be deemed necessary. That, to our thinking is the real essence of rescue.