Logistics; keep things simple

People are very good at finding great ways to be lazy. Why do things manually when a machine can do most of the work? Sometimes to a extend which is not even rational or time saving; like people building a robot to get there beer out of there fridge. In normal life, this might not be a big problem. It makes people more productive and prevents injuries (but can also cause to little movement by people).

In emergency management and just regular emergency preparedness, we prepare for situations when infrastructure might be a problem. Maybe there is no power, fuel, water, garbage disposal sewage system, etc.  This means equipment we are using to save labor, might not work. There is a critical choice that needs to be made. Do we make sure we have the equipment, time and additional man power to get your equipment running (and everything need to keep them running as well) or do we take a more basic approach which does not require as much equipment. Equipment means costs to buy them, need to train people to use them, need somebody to maintain them, spare parts and lots of consumables like fuel. A few examples:

Specialist (rescue) equipment: When a certain equipment was not available at a scene, some people will start to advocate to get one of that equipment. This however can present a lot of issues. People need to be trained at how to use them. In the emergency services this means at least one person in every shift should be trained to use them. If you work with volunteers, you need multiple ones, since not everybody can show up every time. This means a lot of added training and time consumed from people. Getting volunteers burdened with more trainings time can cause them to leave. Then there is also the maintenance of the equipment, initial purchase price, cost of modifying a rig or have an additional vehicle.

Power tools: Power tools are great tools to get the job done quickly. However when you can’t plug them in to a socket, you need some more equipment. So a generator is needed to power your tools. A generator cost money to buy, needs spare parts, maintenance and fuel. You also need to drag it with you, so it means it takes up space and labor to get in to the right location. How much time and energy goes this electric setup saves compared to do a job manually.

When you get equipment, know the logistics needed to get it working. I have seen examples where equipment was purchased but nobody want to deal with the additional manpower, training and logistics needed to get actually use it. This is equipment that just sit there doing nothing, a total waste of money. So always make sure you can handle the logistics behind something and make a choice if it’s worth it. Sometimes not having the ideal equipment, but workable equipment is the best choice.