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Emergency response ahead of severe weather season

by | Nov 22, 2021 | Informative

According to US natural hazard statistics, there have been significant increases in severe weather-related fatalities in the world. Many of these have become a seasonable phenomenon. Weather changes that happen regularly such as flood, heat, tornado, lightning, hurricane, wildfire, extreme cold, and wind and earthquakes have been dominating the headlines of newspapers throughout the world. It has now gone to the extent that not even a single day passes without having been heard about at least one such incident taking valuable lives and properties somewhere in the world.  

Preparedness to mitigate the effects and rescue people has been taking all across the planet with efficient response and management teams being trained to cope with all types of emergencies. There are private agencies with trained officers ready to manage such crisis when an emergency hit. Some big corporations are assigning such organizations with the duty of protecting their employers and properties to efficiently respond to such emergencies. When they are tasked with the duty, they will be responsible for down to top operations such as issuing protocols, supplying necessary equipment, facilitating transportation, and providing required means to stay at a spot for an indefinite period. 

With each new change in weather becoming seasonal and unpredictable, investing more time and resources in the field of security response venture will be a relevant idea for this time in particular. 

Hurricanes, wildfires, and floods have been frequently hitting more parts of the world. Countless acres of land have been burnt in a wildfire in recent years. Hurricane takes hundreds of thousands of lives and other properties. Floods have also become a regular phenomenon claiming lives and destroying livelihoods. Since the root cause of this severe change in weather is environmental pollutions and other toxic-substance emissions, the future is likely to be more dark and hopeless as there has no visible practice in letter and spirit towards the reduction of pollution in the world. For this reason, at least equipping personnel to tackle emergencies by taking strategies that can rescue the most vulnerable people and mitigate the effects of the disaster should be the urgent priority of the security leaders and disaster management teams. Here you will be exposed to some smart emergency response ideas helpful for successfully engaging with rescue operations. 

Informing the communities 

The first and most basic thing one can do to respond to an emergency weather season is to pass the news of potential danger that is on its way. Security teams are expected to have the most advanced communication channels to reach out to residents to facilitate information sharing more effectively so that they can take enough precautions and demand help in a critical situation. Security leaders must also be careful about not turning the people in panic with their interaction rather they should communicate only the most critical information in a strategic and timely manner. Enabling a rapid and coordinated response requires proper communication between all the stakeholders of a situation. They should be very thoughtful about what this announcement means to the public and how they will respond as each one assess that in varying degrees. They must find proper channels and systems to convey the message and ensure that the message has reached the target audience. This is the fundamental duty of security leaders to manage severe weather conditions and natural calamities. 

Defining the vulnerable areas and people  

When communicating with people who are going to meet the calamity, the security team has to bear in mind that giving a message should be confined into the specific areas and it is also advised to inform the nearby area that is going to have its consequences. For example, if a hurricane hits an area near the ocean, it may cause the water to overflow to areas where people are living. In such circumstances, security personnel is indulging in rescue operation teams have to proactively foresee the entire probable follow-ups. 

Making proper planning and preparation for the operation  

We have Emergency operation centers these days in several places. It functions keeping in mind the protection of lives and properties as its core goal. They are a set of trained security professionals ready to manage the communication activities and support and operate emergency response activities in a sheer professional and creative manner. Such a safety operation team is entrusted to prepare for the worst disaster with meticulous planning and response strategies. This involves providing adequate training and skills for the personnel and devising the course of action. For security leaders, it is important to assign specific roles to the personnel and maintain a commanding power without creating confusion during the rescue operations. There should be established communication among the security personnel and also with the affected communities. Preparation again involves testing the efficiency and functionality of the tools and technologies that they are going to use in the operation. Identifying potential points of failure and finding ways to minimize the inevitable casualties are among the prime concerns of the security leaders.   

How much collaboration valued during the operation 

Total collaboration between all the concerned stakeholders of a particular emergency is paramount for the successful operation of an emergency response team. Collaboration between private and public security agencies, security management, and other rescue forces need to be well-coordinated to have a smooth function while the work goes on. During a severe weather emergency, immediate informing of the community, establishing the separate responsibilities, and making a clear direction for the entire operation all these vitals will not be possible if there was no active collaboration among the stakeholders. Constituting an integrated commanding system will be a highly recommended way to establish collaboration. 

Now let us take three examples of weather response activity  

Flood management; has become a frequently required operation nowadays as floods continue to be a recurring process. Searching and rescuing, cleaning up some hazardous materials, utility restoration, and other critical activities should only be carried out by experienced and trained personnel. For example, if there is full of water near an electric circuit and the electric nuance touches the water, it will be catastrophic if it was not properly managed. And removing debris, rescuing isolated people trapped in a place surrounded by water, using technological tools to facilitate the operation, taking enough self-defenses against drowning, insects, chemical dangers, fire, and exhaustion are all things security personnel involved in flood management have to understand. 

Hurricane management; primarily requires a thorough evacuation plan in the entire areas that the hurricane is expected to hit. It includes evacuation procedures, a chain of commands, tools for the personnel, and other essential accessories. The flow of information must be assured from the sources only. Anticipating the potential consequences, responding accordingly, planning relief and recovery course of action, leveraging the relationship with other agencies, mobilizing volunteers, calling the first responders are among the factors a security leader managing the hurricane has to address. Other components such as the use of technology and post-storm assessments also come under the duty of the Hurricane management team.  

Wildfire management; is a very important issue because of the extensive damage it causes and the threat it poses to the safety of people and the property. It is urgent in sites packed with inflammable vegetation to have an effective wildfire plan at all times. Some key elements to keep in mind while engaging with wildfire are defining the exact location of the site, preparing a detailed description of the site, identifying the location of fire-sensitive features, narrating the procedure to be followed, creating communication procedures including radio frequencies of responding agencies and map identification such as entry spot, exit spot, water source and location of flammable fuels. And last but not least, maintaining a close relationship and liaisons with the local fire agency is very important. Conducting training exercises and sometimes joint training with the local agencies will help to sharpen the efficiency of the whole operation. 

As most countries fail to keep their promise of reducing greenhouse emissions and other polluting components, things don’t seem to change. When elements producing such emissions are on a skyrocketing pace, the only reliance, government, and private agencies have before them is to equip security personnel to respond and manage the changing weather emergencies. Security leaders both from the public and private sectors alike have a lot to learn and do in the coming days as many of the corporations starts to employ security agencies to respond to the emergencies in the face of seasonal and frequent weather-related casualties across the world 

Safety and Security: Self Defense for Plane Journey

by | Nov 8, 2021 | Security Technology, Electronic Security, Physical Security, Security Awareness, Security Professionals

Flying at an altitude height of 35,000ft to 42,000 ft people need to be more careful while there are on a plane journey about their concerns for safety and security. Most people find it very exciting while taking a plane journey, be it their first time or not. But with the recent trends in the increase of terrorism and their methods to hijack a plane safety and security can be a high priority. Knowing a little self-defense while traveling at a height of 35,000 ft is only going to hurt the hijackers who hijack the plane. 

Today together let us know how one can be safe and secured during a plane journey.  

While traveling through commercial planes the passengers in the plane during the flight can imagine the various type of scenarios that can cause interruption to their safe and secured environment and lives. 

How do you want to be sure that that you are going to be safe and secure during the plane journey? 

Technically speaking there can be different kinds of risks involved while taking a plane journey. Turbulence issues can cause the plane to blast in the mid-air, severe weather conditions can change the plane course or destroy the plane scattering the plane into pieces in the middle of an ocean. Some kind of technical glitches during landing the plane can cause accidents. Well, in all these scenarios there isn’t much a passenger can do about it. 

We are going to talk about how you can make sure that you are going to be safe and secure during a plane journey that involves yourselves. 

Snakes are definitely not going to be a part of this discussion 

Let me clear your thoughts first, snakes cannot be a threat for the passengers like in the movie Snakes on a Plane hypothetically speaking only. Well, if snakes are really abroad then the right course of action can be listed out during that emergency. But for now, let us stick to the actual and real threats. 

Criminals, sophisticated thieves like in the movies, and the most dangerous ones can be the hijackers. These can be the real threats on a plane with the given space in the plane and well you are obviously in a manner are in the space (atmosphere).  

These can be some serious problems to face while you are at high altitudes with some serious less sensitive equipment on the plane. Hijackers mostly have different agendas while they plan to hijack a plane. Hijacking a plane needs some serious planning which can be avoided firsthand by trying to stop them before they board the plane. 

Security professionals who are a part of the airport security stay vigilant about the passengers boarding the plane. They try to eliminate the threat by observing all the passengers in the boarding area to spot any unusual activity or unusual behavior of any passenger.  

Even the passengers who are ready to board the plane need to observe your surroundings and the co-passengers in the waiting area. If by any chance you find anything suspicious about anyone you need to inform the authorities instead of just ignoring them. Your information can sometimes be easy for the security departments to eliminate threats on the ground level, if not there can be some repercussions.  

Nervousness, excess sweating, impatience, often checking the watches and baggage, and noticing the movements of the security professionals can be some signs to identify the culprits who are about to board the plane with no good intentions.  

Some first-timers who are boarding the plane can also show the same signs but that will be taken care of by the authorities and security officials after running a background check on them. But your primary goal here should be about you informing the authorities about your suspicions.  

By raising suspicion when you find odd behavior from any of the co-passengers you make the job of the airport security officials to identify the threat is real or not.  

An Advice for the Cabin Crew and the Passengers  

Everyone admires the classy nature and the beauty of the cabin crew. But not in all cases the looks can serve the purpose. Along with the humbleness that is possessed by the cabin crew there are is something else that the cabin crew needs to work on to make a safe and secured flight journey for the passengers. 

Self-defense should be taught to all the flight attendants and the cabin crew to ensure safety and security on the plane. 

Self-defense can come in very handy in different situations for the flight attendants mainly.  

During a flight journey the cabin crew mainly the flight attendants has to deal with different kinds of passengers. The kinds can include sexual predators, abusers, assaulters, and the easily offended short-tempered passengers who pose various kinds of challenges and threats to them. Apart from these kinds of passengers, there is the most dangerous kind the terrorists who might hijack the plane or bomb the plane while in flight. 

With a few self-defense classes, the flight attendants would be able to defend themselves from petty issues to serious problems. Maybe not in all situations the threat can be eliminated effectively by the cabin crew and their self-defense lessons. But the least they can do with their self-defense techniques is that they can minimize the threat and the scale of danger it possesses in hijack situations. 

While encountering the terrorists or the hijackers who hijacked the plane with your basic self-defense lessons can be hard because the chances of your survival are very low and the stakes are very high, literally very high because your flight is at an altitude of 35,000 ft. But you challenging the hijackers can cause panic in them and their mission and also the passengers can give a hand with the push you gave them by showing courage. 

I think there is no need to give an introduction to the deadliest terrorist attack that has ever happened in human history. 9/11 attacks on American soil have created chaos in the infrastructures, the economy, and the 90 different countries that lost their citizens in the attacks. 

On the morning of September 11, 2001, four commercial planes from different locations were hijacked by 19 terrorists who were divided into four groups. Each group had their own pilot to fly the plane after taking control of the plane.  

The interesting fact in the attacks is that not all the planes were successful in destroying their targets. Only the three planes were able to crash in the locations they wanted to, but the fourth commercial plane which was carrying 33 passengers and 7 cabin crew did not reach the location.  

The fourth plane which was hijacked by 4 terrorists was headed to the Capitol building but crashed elsewhere. According to the reports, the fourth plane passengers showed resistance by attempting to subdue the hijackers, in fear of failing the mission the hijacker pilot crash-landed the plane in a field in Pennsylvania.  

These attacks claimed nearly 2,973 lives, not including the terrorists who carried out the mission. If the fourth commercial plane was also able to succeed in its mission the toll would have gone up a little. But the restrain and the resistance which was shown by the passengers in the plane averted the attack on the Capitol building. There were no survivors from all the planes but the fourth plane was able to at least avert the danger, not increase any more death count by sacrificing themselves.  

The world is in constant need of heroes who can protect others from threats. All the security professionals and the security departments from each sector always tries to keep the people safe and secured. But being safe and secure doesn’t always have to be dependent on the security officials and the law enforcement departments. We also need to look out for ourselves. To be able to do that doesn’t always require becoming trained fighters.  

Some simple self-defense techniques can be very helpful in dealing with threats such as mugging, thefts, and assaults on the ground levels from workplace environments to streets. But knowing self-defense techniques during a plane journey can surely help in boosting up your confidence to go face to face with threats. 

With the metal detectors and the extensive screening of all the passengers, there won’t be many weapons on the hijackers. Given the fewer weapons, you can take it as an advantage to show your self-defense skills. 

Don’t believe what is shown in the movies, it is very difficult to smuggle something into a plane. So terrorists won’t be having AK-47 or automatic weapons for that matter which can make your task simple. They even use fake bombs to scare the passengers which were exactly what happened in the series of 9/11 attacks.  

Source: September 11 attacks – Wikipedia