In the coming weeks, the Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen) will distribute important crisis advice to 4.5 million citizens who receive digital mail. The informational brochure is designed to guide individuals on how to prepare for emergencies such as severe weather or cyber attacks by ensuring they have supplies of water, food, and medicine for three days. However, this digital distribution method has faced strong criticism from the Elderly Society (Ældre Sagen).

Louise Kambjerre Scheel, a senior consultant at the Elderly Society, argues that this form of information distribution excludes the 287,000 Danes who are exempt from receiving digital mail. “It simply doesn’t work to differentiate between citizens based on their digital capabilities,” she states. The Elderly Society has therefore urged the Emergency Management Agency to send crisis advice through traditional mail to those who do not use digital services.

Despite considering the option of distributing the brochure to households, as previously done in Sweden, the Emergency Management Agency has opted for digital mail as the most effective and economically advantageous method. Director Laila Reenberg explains that paper advice often ends up in the trash alongside advertisements, which is why digital mail is considered a more secure channel.

To reach citizens without digital access, 300,000 brochures will be distributed to libraries across the country. However, Louise Kambjerre Scheel emphasizes that this is not a foolproof solution. “Not everyone can get to a library or lives close to one, so we cannot be sure that they will receive this information,” she points out.

Kambjerre Scheel stresses the importance of ensuring that the entire population, without exceptions, is informed about crisis preparedness. Citizens can also access the brochure titled “Prepared for Crises” by visiting the Emergency Management Agency’s website. Despite the ongoing preparedness efforts, there is currently no direct military threat to Denmark.