National Land Agency distributes 60,000 booklets to strengthen apartment disaster preparedness

The National Land Management Agency (NLMA) of the Ministry of the Interior recently completed the compilation and printing of a book titled "Apartment Building Disaster Mitigation and Protection Guidelines: Community Voluntary Disaster Prevention Teams," commonly known as the "Big Orange Book." Distribution of the books in batches to community property management committees, resident representatives, and other related units across Taiwan began today. This initiative is a response to the increasing frequency of typhoons, earthquakes, and other disasters in recent years. Densely populated apartment buildings often become focal points for population concentration and rescue operations during disasters. Without unified and practically feasible disaster prevention operational guidelines, delays in rescue efforts and secondary disasters can easily occur. The NLMA stated that in addition to the physical books, citizens can also download the electronic version from the agency's official website, ensuring that the information reaches every household in the shortest possible time.

The background of the compilation of the "Big Orange Book" is closely tied to lessons learned from several major disasters in the past. The 2016 Kaohsiung gas explosion, the 2019 Hualien earthquake, and several severe wind and rainstorms in northern Taiwan in 2021 all demonstrated that residential communities still have many blind spots in disaster response. In particular, regulations regarding the use of public spaces, stairwells, and emergency exits in apartment buildings were unclear, and there was a lack of coordination mechanisms among residents. To bridge these gaps, the NLMA collaborated with experts from multiple departments, including fire services, architecture, and health and welfare, to formulate a complete set of operational procedures tailored to the structural characteristics of apartment buildings and the organizational forms of residents. These procedures cover pre-disaster protection, self-rescue during a disaster, and post-disaster recovery, and are presented in the "Big Orange Book" with rich illustrations and clear steps.

More than 60,000 copies have been printed, which is sufficient to cover approximately 3,000 community property management committees across Taiwan. The mailing method is divided by region and batch to ensure that each management committee can promptly initiate internal advocacy and drills upon receipt. The book not only explains how to inspect building structural safety, set up disaster prevention equipment, and prepare emergency supplies, but also particularly emphasizes the importance of establishing a "community voluntary disaster prevention team," encouraging residents to spontaneously form volunteer groups to regularly conduct disaster prevention drills, information sharing, and emergency command. This initiative aims to decentralize disaster prevention responsibilities from a single competent authority to the grassroots level, enabling every resident to become a first-line rescue force in times of crisis.

From a policy perspective, the "Big Orange Book" is one of the core tools in the Ministry of the Interior's promotion of the "Comprehensive Home Disaster Prevention" strategy. Since 2022, this strategy has required local governments to strengthen disaster prevention planning in residential areas and, in conjunction with amendments to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act, has raised building seismic and fire safety standards. Through unified guidelines and practical operation manuals, the agency hopes to reduce disaster prevention blind spots caused by information asymmetry, while also providing baseline data for future disaster risk assessments. If community property management committees can effectively implement the recommendations in the book, it will help enhance overall disaster resilience and reduce casualties and property losses.

In summary, the release of the "Big Orange Book" is not only a transmission of disaster prevention information, but also an innovative practice in social governance. It operationalizes professional disaster prevention knowledge into concrete, everyday concepts, allowing every citizen living in an apartment building to prepare before a disaster strikes and respond rapidly when one occurs. In the future, if combined with the resources of local governments and the spontaneous participation of residents, Taiwan's residential disaster prevention system will become more complete and resilient.