Report on Disaster Management

 

REPORT ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT

‘Time for half-measures is over. Confrontation of the situation should be the rule.’

With the world going the difficult way and we humans following the suit, it was time to deliberate on and learn how to manage the crisis. A Disaster Management Workshop for School Management and Staff was organized on Saturday, 19th September in our school. 

The workshop turned out to be an enthralling experience for all the attendees as they got to hear the smart views of Mr. Mohit Bhala, the Vice President of Citi Group India, Safety and Security Group, the Head of the Northern Region of India.

Mr. Bhala, the Resource Person explained Disaster Management (or Emergency Management) is the creation of plans through which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. The Aims and Objectives of the Emergency Planning was shared with the management and the teachers to ensure that the safety of the students and the staff should be maintained during an emergency.

The opening session on ‘Role of Teachers in Crisis Management’ was led by the keynote speaker. He expressed that the plan has two components as depicting the following chart-

 Plan Components:

     • Hazards Identification / Safety Assessment

• Response Plan

 ‘Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level.’

One of the highlights of the workshop session was ‘Basics of Evacuation Process’. The discussion was moderated by all the teachers present there by citing examples/ situations from their experiences.

This workshop had cleared the holistic approach to combat any disaster as once the hazard has been identified, it becomes possible to develop preparedness, prevention and a response programme to minimize them as not all emergencies can be prevented. Therefore, the plan needs to describe arrangements for responding suitably to those emergencies.

‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’

The key points covered in the workshop were-

• Roles and responsibilities of teachers—before/after Disaster
• Vulnerability Mapping and Coping Mechanisms
• Safe Places and Evacuation Routes

He summed up the workshop by emphasizing the need of sensitization meetings for awareness amongst teachers/school management, awareness activities and dissemination of the plan to everybody in the school and conducting regular mock drills to have alertness/presence of mind. He described a ‘Golden Triangle’.

The Vote of Thanks was proposed by the Primary In-charge by expressing, “Every little thing counts in a crisis. So be mentally alert.”