Emergency! Emergency! This is not an exercise...
Emergency preparedness, contingency planning, crisis
management and disaster control are arts requiring clusters of sciences.
Well designed emergency training and well exercised contingency plans save lives
and reduce property damage.
Trained disaster workers can reduce a major crisis to a relatively minor
event, and can greatly reduce the time needed to return an emergency situation
to normal. Ideal emergency workers are not only well trained but experienced;
having discussed, practiced and exercised many accident and incident scenarios.
They are not only fluent in the local language but empathic about the local culture.
They understand local values and honor local traditions. They are respected by community
leaders and trusted by emergency authorities. They are emotionally stable, and
can support unstable people. They are innovative leaders, loyal
team-workers and obedient workers as circumstances require.
Emergency Workers
Professional emergency workers are often trained by military or
paramilitary organizations. Military personnel, police officers, firefighters and paramedics
are usually extremely well trained and experienced in many crisis situations.
They accept a military-like chain of command and can lead as well as follow.
Emergencies are hard places. Untrained disaster workers often have high ideals and minimal
experience. In their haste to help, they create more problems than they
solve. They may disobey professionals and worsen problems. Their value may be
worth
less than their transport, accommodation,
supervision and food. Their lack of training may require more resources than they
provide!
Untrained workers in disaster areas not only risk harm - essential resources
may be required for their rescue. Untrained
workers get burned out or kicked out...
Emergency Resources
Soulwork Solutions offers:
- emergency training and coaching
- selection and teambuilding
- exercise design and evaluation
- creating and editing contingency plans and manuals
- doctors, psychologists and coaches skilled in crisis,
trauma and PTSD
[ In-House Training . Coaching . International Crisis .
Contingency Planning ]
Emergency Preparedness Training
Emergency preparedness begins with training. This can be from the following
training packages or customized for your organization's unique needs. If you want
or need emergency preparedness training, please tell us:
- Your contingency - what emergencies do you want to prepare for?
- Your objectives - what skills do you want your people to learn?
- Your situation - what skills and resources do your people already have?
- Student background - what is their experience and age range?
- How much time you want to invest in emergency training?
- Do you want to include supervised exercises?
- Language skills - are translators needed?
The following emergency preparedness courses can be
presented in three-day segments.
Emergency Basics
- Anatomy of emergencies
- Physical and mental preparedness
- First Aid, CPR and triage
- Specialists and their skills
- Communication skills
- Language skills
- Cultural skills
- Teamwork skills
- Personal resources
- Quick-departure packs
[ Pain Control . Long-term Pain Relief .
Refugee Management ]
Getting Ready
- Legal limitations
- Authority issues
- Isolated people
- Evacuations
- Food and shelter
- Missing persons
- Conflict and violence
- Crime continues in crisis
- Conflicts and corruption in crisis
- Makeshift emergency resources
Plans & Operations
Disasters take many shapes. Some are natural - and others manmade.
Some are predictable and others are shockingly unexpected. Some are
trivial - and others may kill thousands of people. A crisis can take
many shapes, and each type of crisis precipitates a set of reactions that
emergency workers can follow. Emergency planning rarely anticipates all
scenarios, but gets emergency workers and resources together as quickly as
possible.
- Vehicle and airplane accidents
- Industrial and nuclear accidents
- Wars and terrorism
- Famines and droughts
- Plagues and epidemics
- Avalanches and landslides
- Storms and floods
- Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
- Hurricanes, cyclones and tornados
- Tidal waves and tsunamis
Preparing for Disaster
You're an emergency worker! You are eager to help others while
developing your skills and abilities! You are trained in first aid and CPR.
You are fit. What else can you do to prepare yourself? What
skills can you develop that will assist you greatly - even if you never step
into a real crisis situation - what skills are invaluable in any crisis?
- Staying resourceful in chaos
- Dealing with your own emotional reactions
- Moving your attention and action into priorities
- Maintaining empathic dissociation
- Recognizing your own burn-out and overwhelm
- Getting food, rest and sleep
- Becoming a leader that people can follow
- A sequence of helping (shock, guilt, beliefs, trauma, decisions)
- Working in teams - not groups or gangs
- Dealing with "survivor guilt"
Crisis Coaching
It's up to you. You have been instructed to lead a group of
refugees to a safe location. Or maybe you are with a group of evacuees and
it's time to go home. You may believe that you know what is best for them.
Some are older than you and some younger. Some may be trying to believe
that it's not THAT bad, some may be in shock and some may be hurt.
Children may be crying and screaming ... and some people cannot understand you
at all...
- When to call for help!
- Initial shock and disbelief
- Adults who are age regressed (adults become child-like)
- People in shock or in pain
- People who have lost family, goods or property
- Post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD)
- Assisting people with strange beliefs
- Dealing with suicide and other threats
- Making decisions after crisis
- Evaluating life after a disaster
Emergency Teamwork
Emergency work is teamwork. Independent heroes only look good in
movies. Emergency workers violating chain of command are worse than useless.
During team training, we simultaneously coach team members to work together effectively. Team
Training can include forming new teams, resolving conflicts, improving existing teams and
training team leaders. We also coach team leaders to disband teams with minimum stress.
- Overall objectives
- Leader's role and tasks
- Selecting and training leaders
- Task content and priorities
- Team competencies
- Selecting team members
- Team rules (4 categories)
- Team member responsibilities
- Hidden agendas and other objections
- Team consultation
Soulwork provides effective coaching and coach training.
We train professional coaches to coach individuals, partners and
teams to resolve a wide range of emotional and relationship challenges.
Martyn Carruthers
Martyn Carruthers is a trained paramedic (Royal Navy) and served on nuclear
submarines during the Cold War period. He was a health physics and
safety officer at English and Canadian nuclear power stations, and Radiation
Protection Officer for the Canadian government, where he worked with Public Health
and Emergency Measures Organization (EMO). Martyn founded
Soulwork Solutions.
[
In-House Training .
Personal Coaching . Refugee Management . Contingency Planning ] |
