- Wildland firefighter (a basic requirement when you live in the mountains of Colorado)
- Engineer (driving the fire engines and operating the pumps on all types of firefighting apparatus from big attack engines to smaller brush trucks)
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Incident Commander
It is amazing to me how much there is to learn in this endeavor. I responded to a lot of emergency incidents and was also involved in training both new and experienced firefighters. To remain competent as a first responder one has to train constantly – and well – to keep your skills current, sharp and available like “muscle memory.”
One of the universal practices within the field of emergency services is conducting an “After Action Review” (AAR) after every emergency incident. One of the biggest reasons for AARs is performance improvement – i.e. what can we learn from our performance on this incident that can improve our performance next time? Given my educational and consulting background and experience, I tried to keep my eyes open for learnings that apply in a more general way to responding to emergency situations – not only for first responders, but also for ordinary folks who might find themselves in emergency situations.
Responding to emergencies is not just for first responders (people with formal emergency services training). As an ordinary person – what if you were cooking in the kitchen and something caught on fire? Would you respond to that emergency? Would you try to put the fire out? Yes and Yes – certainly. And, as a thinking person, before any such emergency were to happen, you might buy a fire extinguisher and keep it accessible in the kitchen – just in case a fire started. That is emergency preparedness. Emergency preparedness is nothing more than accepting that emergencies do happen and being responsible for your own welfare. Small example: do you have band aids in your house? Of course you do – just in case you (or someone else) were to get a cut or scrape.
There are so many things that you can do to be prepared for various types of emergencies. Every one of those things helps you deal with emergencies in three kinds of ways:
- You are at least a little mentally prepared in that you have considered the possibility of that type of emergency happening – this could range from a cut finger to some type of major natural disaster . . .
- You have acquired materials and/or equipment that you can use in that type of emergency to help deal with the situation and make it better – range: band aids to being able to shelter in place with a three-day supply of food and potable water.
- You may acquire some knowledge and/or skills that will enable you to deal with a particular type of emergency and make it better – range: how to clean and dress a small wound to reduce the potential for infection to how to get you and the family out of the house quickly and safely in case of a house fire or how to provide high quality CPR.
Here are a few topics to consider:
An excellent information source for emergency preparedness is the "Ready Gov" website provided by FEMA. Go to:
https://www.ready.gov
There is a section on building emergency preparedness kits for various kinds of emergencies at: https://www.ready.gov/kit
There are many websites that include tips for emergency preparedness – "Be Prepared" – do a web search! Many communities are served by volunteer fire departments. If you fall into that category, get to know your volunteer fire department, support it and – if you are physically fit and like helping people – you might consider becoming a volunteer.