Disaster preparedness: teaching, leadership and organization of work in emergency situations

Tuesday morning at Jaren train station (Norway). The train collided with a car, all emergency services are involved. District authorities and local police have long been ready and trained. This day has come. A serious accident with a large number of victims – an emergency center is created. Full-scale emergency preparedness training is underway.

First psychological help

Most people experience stress reactions after traumatic events. These reactions are different and occur as a natural consequence of a traumatic event. If you immediately provide care and support to the person, then you can prevent mental health problems and help strengthen your physical condition.

Helping many at once

In the event of a disaster staff, who usually works with individuals or families, forced to work with a large number of people at once, who need help.

Obit

The worst message, which we can get, –  death of a loved one. It hurts especially, when it happens suddenly, example, in cases of suicide, accidents or catastrophes.

Caring for children and adolescents

Nine young people, who survived the terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011 year, are currently members of the advisory group, established by the Norwegian Ombudsman for Children , whose name is "Expert Group". They are experts,  because they have their own experience of that, how schools and support services work with children and adolescents, who survived the disaster.

Assistance work requires cooperation and self-regulation

Disaster management requires the cooperation of staff with the heads of many different institutions. Coordinated teamwork and confident employees, who are aware of their own reactions, – these are the main factors in reassuring and supporting disaster victims.

Plans

Emergency preparedness plans should clearly describe the algorithm for providing psychosocial assistance in the event of a disaster.. All staff, who is involved in disaster relief work, should regularly practice providing psychosocial support to victims.

Conducting exercises

Local authorities should regularly train disaster preparedness plans, to which there is the greatest vulnerability. This is a necessary condition for providing proper assistance to people, who were directly and indirectly affected. The experience of conducting such trainings should be evaluated, and plans should be revised as necessary.

Role play

Emergency response training should provide all crisis response team members with realistic opportunities for rehearsals. A real role-playing game with actors, which demonstrates various crisis situations, is extremely important, because it gives staff a realistic experience of chaos during a disaster.

Emergency planning and preparation

The need for effective coordination and leadership is particularly evident in the reception center for disaster victims, where the victims are people with different needs. Leadership involves identifying complex priorities with limited time and resources. This requires regular training and rehearsals.

Characteristics of effective crisis leaders

In general, effective leadership is characterized by such qualities and skills as positive communication, competence, experience and optimistic thinking. There are three leadership qualities, which are especially important for effective crisis management: knowledge and experience, the ability to listen and the ability to make decisions.

Honoring the memory

Accidents and catastrophes are usually used to honor the memory of the dead. It helps to unite and helps them, who lost loved ones, to understand the essence of a chaotic situation.

Interaction with the media

Media management- this is the most important task of leadership in a disaster. Be the center of media attention- quite a difficult test. Training and education of key media employees is a necessary condition for a successful solution to this problem.

Using the capabilities of social networks

Today it is expected, that authorities and organizations, which are mobilized in a disaster, will use social networks. Effective communication immediately after a disaster can make a significant contribution to saving lives.

Halvor Fossum Lauritzen, former head of foreign affairs of the Norwegian Red Cross: "Emergency management requires flexibility at the same time, and a clear structure ".

The role of the crisis response team in emergency preparedness

Crisis response group- it is an independent team, which is internally organized depending on the tasks. The psychosocial readiness plan describes, how a team should manage crisis situations, accidents and catastrophes.

Disaster Victims Reception Center

The Center for Reception of Disaster Victims was created for that purpose, so that local authorities and police can accept, register and accompany evacuees and their immediate relatives. The operation of such a Center requires coordination and cooperation between crisis response teams and emergency services..

Communication

Crisis communication is, to effectively transmit the necessary and accurate information in a limited time.

Staff support and follow-up

Staff, involved in disaster relief work, faces resistance, as well as with feelings of helplessness and despair. Therefore, staff also need further monitoring; strategies for this should be included in preparedness plans.