With climate change fueling increasingly frequent typhoons, floods and earthquakes, the Taiwan Red Cross convened 70 participants earlier this month for two days of intensive disaster preparedness training.

The course, held September 8–9 at the organization’s Humanitarian Park, included 17 alternative military service members and 53 volunteers from the Kiwanis International. It was the 18th such program organized by the Taiwan Red Cross.

On the opening day, Jia-ju Wang, a professor of architecture at Ming Chuan University and a certified emergency manager in the United States and Japan, told participants that major disasters are no longer exceptional but “the new normal.” He urged them to integrate disaster knowledge, skills and attitudes into their daily lives, calling this “disaster literacy,” which he described as an essential form of survival.

Wang also introduced the concept of a personal “crisis personality” — the capacity to respond, adapt and recover during disasters — warning that this can determine both immediate survival and long-term resilience. “Preparedness cannot remain a slogan,” he said. “It must be a basic capability.”

The training combined lectures with experiential learning. Kun-sung Huang, secretary-general of Taipei’s First International Lions Club, said the program offered him a more systematic framework for understanding disaster preparedness than his professional exposure to fire safety had previously provided.

For others, the course reinforced deeply personal motivations. One participant, Mr. Du, said his faith had already led him to assemble a disaster kit, but that practical drills brought new awareness. Two others, also serving alternative military service, said their kits would always include a Bible, underscoring the psychological and spiritual needs that disasters often expose.

Yung-jun Lin, a researcher at the National Taiwan University Center for Climate and Weather Disasters, echoed that sentiment, stressing that preparedness is not limited to physical supplies. A disaster kit, he argued, must also address mental and emotional resilience.

Earning the designation of “Disaster Preparedness Specialist,” he added, is not merely a credential but a responsibility — a commitment to becoming a seed of self-help and mutual aid in local communities.

By the program’s conclusion, participants had gained not only technical expertise but also what organizers called a heightened sense of readiness. For the Taiwan Red Cross, such training represents a cornerstone of its long-term effort to strengthen community resilience at a time when the next disaster is less a question of if than when.