<![CDATA[Flood events in Gorontalo City repeatedly generate acute health risks and disrupt access to routine healthcare, making household-level preparedness particularly the availability and appropriate use of emergency medicines an essential component of disaster risk reduction. This study assessed community understanding of household emergency medicines for flood preparedness in Lekobalo Urban Village, Gorontalo City, Indonesia, using a cross-sectional design. A total of 95 residents were recruited by purposive sampling and completed a 24-item questionnaire covering four domains: knowledge of emergency medicines, medication procurement behaviour, medication use, and information sources; the instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.958). Overall, community understanding was predominantly moderate (55.8%), followed by low (27.4%) and high (16.8%) categories, indicating that preparedness knowledge and practical medication readiness remain suboptimal in a substantial proportion of households. Descriptive comparisons suggested variability across sociodemographic characteristics, implying that targeted health education and community-based pharmaceutical counselling may be required to strengthen household readiness before, during, and after flood events. These findings support the integration of structured risk communication on essential emergency medicines into local disaster preparedness programmes, aligned with primary healthcare and community pharmacy engagement. ]]>
