A disaster response require a lot of people to perform all kinds of tasks. Professionals and a lot of (non professional) volunteers are eager to response to a disaster. However don't jump in a car and expect to be helpful.
Professionals know not to self deploy. The units nearest will usually respond first, but the rest will be send by the command posts. There are reasons for this:
- If everybody is deployed, you don't have a second or third shift.
- An mayor incident does not mean there are no 'regular' incidents left. You still need your emergency professionals for those incidents.
- Having enough people to do the work is good, but having too many will slows things down significantly. (same goes for the equipment)
For regular incidents the only thing you can do as a civilian is to provide information to rescuers, maybe secure the scene (you need the correct knowledge and equipment), provide first aid (if you are trained and know what you are doing) or a quick rescue (when doing nothing means certain death), but only when it's safe to do so. But when the professional rescue workers arrive, there is very few things you can do.
For civilians responding to disasters. There are a few things to consider:
- Your own safety first! Do not risk your life, we don't need more victims.
- Do not block the road/parking space! Firetrucks, cranes and other heavy equipment need lots of space to maneuver. Ambulances need to be able to stage and transport victims.
- Are you trained or do you have the equipment to do the things you want to do? if not; go away.
- If you are told to leave, leave! Some people are offended when they are told to leave. Professional responders are not there to please you, but to save lives. If you are in the way, go away.
So am i saying that civilians should not do anything during a disaster; no. Regular people are essential. Especially when the rescue services are overwhelmed, however know when you are useful and know when to go away.
1 comment:
Hello! I am a non-professional person who has rarely responded to emergencies. However, in combating the WEB SUCK, the imbalance of content creators and content consumers, I want to take part of my lunch break to comment here. I hope you approve part or all of this comment.
I got to this site from CandlePowerForums, a tech-head site for all things that emit light. I learned these (And other) things there:
1. A little goes a long way when you can count on it.
2. You get what you pay for.
3. Someone always know better.
I have some experience with the lower tiers of professional rescuers: I used to teach lifeguarding safety courses. The experienced lifeguards always told me that their biggest fear was the overconfident "help" that adds to the body count. One of the worst things volunteer/amateurs can do is to fail to recognize the danger on scene, and to overestimate their own abilities.
Rural rescue squads have the same opinion of helpful people: I live in a pig farming area, where one of the most gruesome types of headlines we see every few years is "Whole family dies in tragic agricultural accident." The hog manure goes into a lagoon where it ferments to become less toxic to lakes and streams. Every few years, the lagoon has to be emptied and repaired. One byproduct of manure is methane, which is heavier than air. When Dad goes into the drained lagoon to patch the pond liner, there may not be oxygen in the pit. Mom goes in to 'rescue' him and falls over too, and so on until someone calls 911 and rescuers with SCBAs respond.
I am lucky to have such a boring life, that I have few personal anecdotes of responding to emergencies. Best regards,
-Snaily
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