1. Introduction
A disaster is a hazardous event that disrupts the functioning of a society or community and causes human, material, environmental, and economic losses [
1]. The four phases of disaster include mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery [
2,
3]. The mitigation and preparedness phases occur before a disaster hits and facilitates realistic predictions of what it will affect. The response phases continue until immediately after the disaster, and the recovery phase extends until the regular operations and activities are again performed at a satisfactory level. Decisions that are made during the mitigating and preparedness phases highly impact the time and effectiveness of the response and recovery phases [
4,
5,
6].
The number and severity of natural disasters has increased significantly in recent years [
7,
8]. There were only about 100 natural disasters reported annually worldwide during the 1980s, and this number has risen to over 300 since 2000. Disasters have impacted both developed and developing countries [
9]. For example, the 2011 earthquake in Japan alone was responsible for the economic loss of USD 221.6 billion. In the United States, during the ten-year period of 2003 to 2013, natural disasters were responsible for damages amounting to USD 1.5 trillion; from 2016 to 2017, the losses were approximately USD 200 billion [
10].
While most are familiar with the disruptions caused by disasters, many are not aware of the negative impacts that they have on students. Disasters affect students by disrupting campus activities, interrupting classes, and damaging school buildings [
11]. In recent years, universities have begun to recognize the value of being prepared for disasters and their associated risks, and students have become more aware of disasters through personal experience, seminars, and the media. Disaster awareness denotes the extent of knowledge about disaster risks, and the factors that lead to disasters influence the actions that could be taken individually or collectively to address exposure and vulnerability to hazards, while disaster preparedness denotes the measures that are taken to prepare for/reduce the effects of disasters [
6]. Despite the increase in awareness, however, many universities and schools still lack adequate planning, response, and mitigation strategies [
12].
According to Tanner and Doberstein [
13], students are the least-considered group of a community when plans are being made for emergency preparedness. Mulilis et al. [
14] found similar results while evaluating tornado preparedness of students, non-students, tenants, and homeowners, and a study that was conducted in China [
15] revealed that more than half of the students did not know basic survival skills, even though they were taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). While administering CPR is an important skill, in the face of the increasing number of natural disasters that are occurring worldwide, it seems important for universities and schools to also provide education on other essential rescue skills. Doing so will increase students’ disaster preparedness and enable them to apply their skills during a disaster.
Awareness is important, but students must also be prepared for disasters by being taught the essential rescue skills that can significantly mitigate their effects [
16,
17,
18]. These rescue techniques are a vital aspect of disaster education and should be taught by competent professionals [
15]. Universities with nursing and/or medical schools have an advantage, as they have the instruments and professionals to develop and implement effective disaster training and courses [
19]. All educators in institutions of higher learning can successfully develop and offer disaster risk reduction (DRR) courses, however, and their willingness and ingenuity will determine the quality of the courses [
20]. Prepared students are more confident and more likely to use their knowledge of the physical and psychological barriers precipitated by disasters to assist local disaster management agencies [
21].
Even though students are among the most vulnerable groups in the community to natural disasters, they are often overlooked [
19,
20]. University students are a rare set of individuals with a versatile worldview and exceptional adaptability [
21]. They can learn emergency skills more rapidly and efficiently than the general population since they possess these characteristics. As training sessions might greatly lower the costs of the damages and students can be valuable resources for disaster response, prevention, and mitigation in general, it is strongly suggested to equip students with the right training and education [
9,
22].
Previous studies have demonstrated that implementing a university disaster preparedness course requires the difficult task of collaborating with local leaders [
22]. Ideally, senior university administrators collaborate with local emergency management agencies to enhance the disaster preparedness of both the university and the community [
23], while providing practical training and strengthening the relationship between them [
22]. The financial capability of a university often plays an important role in the development and delivery of technical disaster education and/or towards the integration of DRR courses with other courses [
24]. Amri et al. [
20] found that most teachers believe that training would help them teach a DRR course more effectively; hence it follows that a collective effort by trained teachers could effectively lead to the successful application of disaster education. Recognizing and awarding effective and experienced distance education teachers may entice others to follow their footsteps [
25].
The literature makes it clear that acquiring knowledge and skills helps students be prepared for disasters. Therefore, it is vital for universities to educate their students about how disasters can impact them and to equip them with the knowledge and skills to mitigate those impacts. Students can be valuable assets for the local community and management agencies during disaster recovery if they are trained and given the necessary tools. Thus, this study aims to fill the void in the literature on this subject by investigating university students’ knowledge and perceptions of disaster preparedness indicators (DPIs). We formulated three specific objectives for this study: (i) to identify the disaster preparedness indicators (DPIs), (ii) to identify the critical components that are associated with the DPIs using factor analysis, (iii) and to develop a structural equation model to evaluate the relationship between students’ socio-demographic characteristics and DPIs on disaster awareness and preparedness. This study’s findings will provide insights for faculty members, academic staff, and university policymakers and will enable them to make changes in existing policies and procedures, reform existing programs, enhance students’ disaster preparedness, and minimize the expensive and deadly impacts of disasters.
Disaster Preparedness Indicators
As the focus of the study is primarily to evaluate the relationship between students’ socio-demographic characteristics and DPIs on disaster awareness and preparedness, the DPIs were identified from the literature. Patel et al. [
26] identified 24 DPIs, and the list of DPIs is presented in
Table 1.
4. Discussion
As presented in
Table 5, evaluating the relationships between socio-demographic characteristics and key variables revealed that female students are more optimistic about government agencies and universities taking responsibility for their safety during disasters than males, but they have a more negative perception of their university’s disaster curriculum. Gender is not just a factor that evaluates the distinctions between male and female in the aftermath of disasters. Additionally, it concerns how gender power relations are reflected in this situation through living situations, demographic and economic characteristics, behaviors, and attitudes [
39]. Asian students and those living on campus are more positive about the curriculum and expressed willingness to take an exam that covers the material [
40]. Graduate students were more aware than undergraduate students of the emergency procedures and communication channels that were established by their university.
Consideration of the mediating effects of the key variables on disaster preparedness and awareness of students showed that students who are more optimistic about the government or university assuming responsibility for their safety during a disaster and who are aware of university emergency procedures are more likely to be prepared. Those with a positive perception of DRR education in general and their university’s curriculum specifically, including being willing to take an exam at the end of the course, demonstrated a heightened awareness of disasters.
Table 6 presents the indirect effects of sociodemographic on disaster awareness and disaster preparedness. For example, females might not be aware of disasters if they have a negative perception of the university disaster curriculum and are, therefore, unlikely to adopt DRR education. On the other hand, they are better prepared for disasters compared to males if they are optimistic about the university and government assuming responsibility for their safety during disasters. Students living on campus are likely to be less aware of disasters if they are ready to take a course on DRR education and take a test at the end of the course. Graduate students are better prepared for disasters if they are aware of university emergency procedures. Therefore, a university curriculum would help to improve disaster awareness students, which is in line with the results of previous studies [
41].
Hence, despite the challenges of implementing DRR education as part of the curriculum, it is critical that universities provide practical training so that through practicing rescue skills, the students become more knowledgeable and proficient in how to survive a disaster.
5. Conclusions
The goal of this study was to determine the DPIs and to develop models to identify the disaster preparedness of university students. The disaster preparedness indicators that were identified from the literature belong to six critical components: government/university responsibility, emergency procedures, university curriculum, adoption of disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness, and disaster awareness. The indicators revealed that the university’s DRR curriculum significantly impacts the students’ level of disaster awareness, and the assumption of the government and university for responsibility of the students’ safety and the establishment of emergency procedures directly influence the students’ level of preparedness. The survey results indicated that the variables not only directly affect students’ disaster preparedness and awareness, but they also mediate the effects of their socio-demographic characteristics. More than half (62%) of the students who participated in the survey believed that both practical and theoretical disaster education are needed for a sound understanding of the survival techniques and rescue skills that are needed during disasters, and 31% considered lack of sufficient practical knowledge a major barrier. The findings of this study can help faculty and academic staff update existing programs and incorporate new ones. It also will allow policymakers to effectively assess the universities’ existing emergency preparedness policies and procedures based on student characteristics
As the sample size of the students that participated in the study was small and the students were only from engineering majors, the findings may not be representative of most students. In the future, more comprehensive studies should be conducted among larger groups of students from a variety of majors in disaster-prone areas in the United States to understand the factors that affect students’ disaster preparedness. Moreover, this study was developed using a self-reported questionnaire and the results are based on perceptions of disaster preparedness and not the actual disaster preparedness of students.