LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Although rural residents may be more directly involved in responding to crisis, their location also makes them more vulnerable, according to a new study.

    The study at the University of Illinois (UI) attempted to evaluate who fares better, a rural community or an urban one when a disaster strikes a community.

    Researchers found differences in how rural and urban citizens across the United States respond to disasters which vary from winter storms, earthquakes to terrorism.

    "What we've learned so far is that in rural communities there is a tradition of being more self-reliant," said Courtney Flint, a rural sociologist and assistant professor at the UI. "They're off the grid, so that makes them check on each other more, but they are also uniquely situated, closer in some ways to the physical environment and more isolated, making them uniquely vulnerable."

    The study found that while people in urban communities ask questions about liability, rural dwellers say, "We can't wait around for funding. If we need bandages, we'll just start ripping up old bed sheets."

    The study discovered that in rural communities, the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) plan as if they might be the first responders to a disaster, while in urban and suburban communities in Chicago, for example, the need for CERTs is different because those communities have extensive first responders in their police and fire departments.

    "In the Chicago suburbs, the CERTs might do more crowd and traffic control, provide information, answer telephones and work to unite blocks and neighborhoods in a disaster situation," said Flint.

    Flint hopes that the study will help show policy-makers that one size does not fit all -- that urban and rural needs are different.