How not to get yourself killed in an emergency

Earthquake, storm, flood, fire – knowing what to do before you need to do it can not only save your life, but also those who depend on you.

After an earthquake 95% of all rescues are undertaken by the general public. People like you. Would you know what to do, how to do it, in a way that keeps you safe?

That’s the goal of the course run by the Wellington Emergency Response Team.

I’m a squad leader in the team, and today was another fun day of teaching members of my community how to help themselves and others during, and after an emergency. I’ve been doing this course for about three years and it’s always a good day out.

We teach people from all walks of life about things like:

Risk assessment
First aid
Searching techniques
Rescue techniques

so when the big one hits, they are better able to help their communities respond, no matter where they are.
Today was the last course for the year and it contained a number of firsts for me. We usually hide a ‘hazard’ card in a kitchen cupboard. This is a special card because it is a placeholder for a frightened child hiding in the cupboard.

Today was the first time that I’ve had a group find the hidden child on the first attempt. But not only that, both groups I took today found the hidden child! Awesome!

We also demonstrate how to move a casualty using a blanket. We usually get one of the volunteers to lie on the floor while the rest of the group puts them on the blanket and carries them off.

Today was the first time our volunteer casualty lay down on their stomach! But wait there’s more. Both groups did the same thing!! How random is that?

A big thank you goes out to the members of the public who turned up and really got into the spirit of the day, and to the team for their continued efforts in making this such a fun course to teach.

If you are in Wellington make sure you check out the team’s website and Facebook page, give us a like, and sign up for a course. It’s free and loads of fun.

If you’re not in Wellington I’d suggest paying for the team to fly, first class, to your destination, especially if it is somewhere tropical, and run the course for you. Or failing that, you could check out your own emergency response teams and see if they run something similar.