The Elderly - - Coping and Resiliency in a Dangerous World

One of the most striking observations coming from Japan is the impact on the elderly.  Granted, the impacted areas of Japan might have a higher concentration of elderly - - however, the statistics support a much older population overall.  Compare Japan and the United States - - the median age in Japan is 44.6 years old while the U.S. is 36.8 years old.  Look at the population segmentation between the two countries (The CIA World Factbook 2011):

Japan

• 0-14 years old - 13.3%
• 15-64 years old - 64.1%
• 65> years old - 22.6%

United States

• 0-14 years old - 20.1%
• 15-64 years old - 66.9%
• 65> years old - 13%

Two important things that we need to be thinking about.  The first is that the U.S. median age is going up, just like Japan and the rest of the developed world.  In another 20 years, our disaster survivors may start to look like the Japanese victims that we are watching on CNN (By 2030, Americans 65 or older will represent nearly 20% percent of the country's population).

The second point is related to the care and recovery functions associated with our future disasters.  Coping and resiliency will probably be in terms of a much older population base - - in both the U.S and the rest of the developed world.  Helping 67-year olds is far different from helping 37-year olds.  A whole new skill set and resources will be required - - from medication resupply to special medical care to different exposure constraints to rehabilitation and rebuilding. 

Our future populations looks a whole lot closer to the streets of Tokyo than to the streets of Cairo.  In terms of disaster planning and preparation - - we need to be thinking about the makeup of our future population.