Disaster Management - UPSC Success · Disaster Management Introduction 2 ... • lack of medical...
Transcript of Disaster Management - UPSC Success · Disaster Management Introduction 2 ... • lack of medical...
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Disaster Management
Introduction 2
General Preparedness 4
Earthquakes 12
Volcanoes 22
Floods 29
Tornadoes, Typhoons, Cyclones 38
Fires 40
Structural Damage 60
Search and Rescue 65
About 71
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Introduction
DisasterMgmt.org provides detailed information on type of
disasters, how to prepare for disasters, and how to respond to
disasters.
Disasters whether natural or man-made can strike at any time. In
general, the general response to a disaster is in terms of
relief and rescue operations - after the event. However, if we
are adequately prepared, its possible to severely reduce the
impact of a disaster. The impact can be reduced through a good
understanding of preventive actions, as well as having the
knowledge of certain life-saving tools and techniques, which
when used at the time of the event of disaster can control the
total damage to life and belongings.
The biggest problem with the disasters is the suddenness and
swiftness with which they arrive. Hence, in order to reduce the
severity of a disaster the response also has to equally swift.
Lets first understand, what is a disaster. Dictionary meaning of
"disaster" may be taken as: "a sudden accident or natural event
that causes great damage or loss of life" - Oxford Dictionary.
So, as can be seen, disaster by definition itself is "sudden"
and causes immense damage to property and/or life.
Almost all of us can think of several disasters that have
occurred in the recent past. Earthquakes, industrial accidents,
oil-spills, forest-fires, terrorist activities etc. are some of
the more commonly encountered disasters.
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Disasters themselves are not limited to specific parts of world,
though, certain areas might be more prone to certain specific
type of disaster, e.g. area around Pacific rim is more prone to
earthquakes, some countries are more prone to terrorist
activities, some coastal areas are more prone to cyclones, and,
some areas are more prone to floods. However, the more advanced
a nation is, typically, their level of preparedness is higher.
This higher level of preparedness allows them to have a better
control over the loss.
There are certain types of disasters, where, the loss during the
actual event is not necessarily as high, but, the losses become
very high due to inability to manage the situation in a timely
manner. More often than not, it happens due to confusion and
chaos in the context of too much loss, and, inefficient
utilization of resources - which are already strained.
Another thing which causes a lot of loss during certain kind of
disasters is the inability to properly manage and secure the
utilities, like: electricity, gas, water etc. On one side, each
of these utilities are very important, and, on the other side,
due to leakages/ruptures, some of these might come in contact
with each other, when they should not - causing further damage.
Thus, the main motivation behind disaster management is to
minimize the losses at the time of a disaster as well as ensure
most efficient utilization of resources - which are already
scarce.
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General Preparedness
The main characteristics of a major disaster are that
irrespective of the origin, after a little while the scene is
the same:
• total chaos all around
• lack of utilities – which we have always taken for granted
• no relief and rescue teams for several days
• lack of medical facilities
Thus, the sufferings are not just due to the disaster, but,
post-disaster, many more people die and suffer because of:
1. lack of food, shelter
2. lack of medical attention
3. hygiene issues causing health hazards
The nature of disaster might only change the sequence of events
– that’s all.
Hence, it is important to have the following precautions/
preparations done – if your neighbourhood is prone to any of the
disasters. While preparing, remember, after a major disaster it
might be atleast 3 to 5 days, before the first signs of relief
is visible. All your preparations should be done with this in
mind. It’s not just important to survive the immediate disaster,
but, you need to be able to sustain yourself for next several
days – all on your own – maybe, without any utilities etc.
First and foremost, remember, after a disaster, you might not
have stores open. Everything might be closed down. Hence, its
important that you have all the life-saving material with you –
well in advance.
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Here is a list of items that you should have with you, which can
help you stay without utilities for a few days:
• Non-perishable food to last you several days. These should
be something, which do not require cooking, have high
shelf-life, without need for refrigeration or other special
conditions, and, preferably take lesser space to store – so
that you can store adequate amount for a few days. These
include: canned food items, dry-fruits, high protein
biscuits etc.
• Drinking water to last you several days.
• Some blankets etc. to keep you warm, in case houses are
damaged. Remember, there might not be electricity and/or
gas-connections to provide you heating.
• A supply of your medicines for several days.
• Flashlight which operates on batteries. It might help you
navigate your way in darkness, if electrical system has
failed
• A battery operated radio. It might be your only source of
information.
• Some spare batteries to run your flashlight/torch and the
radio
• If you use cordless phones, have a regular phone also
connected. Cordless phones need electrical power to
operate. In case of electrical failures, the cordless
phones might not work.
In addition, you should have the following items:
a. First Aid box, to take care of minor injuries (for
yourself, your family members, and/or even unknown persons
– who might be injured)
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b. Good, comfortable long-boots. With roads damaged, and, too
much debris everywhere, you could be on your feet for next
several days. A pair of good long-boots would be very
helpful.
c. The fuel-tank of your vehicle should always be above the
Half-Mark. The petrol pumps (gas-stations) might either be
non-operational, or, might have long queues. In case, an
evacuation is required, the last thing you want to do is –
get stuck in a huge serpentine queue at the petrol pump.
So, now that you have taken care of your food and shelter, one
of the most important things is to maintain proper sanitary
conditions. Toilet flush systems might not work – either due to
lack of water, or, due to breakage/damage to plumbing
pipes/fittings etc. Thus, a lot of people die due to outbreak of
diseases associated with lack of sanitary conditions. Lack of
water creates unhygienic conditions, which result in outbreak of
such diseases. A simple technique can help you ward-off this
situation.
You should have several (plastic/polythene) garbage-bags. Use
these bags for excretion – inside it. The toilet paper can also
be thrown inside the same bag. Once it has been used a few
times, close its mouth tightly, and, let it lie in a corner. As
long as it has been sealed properly at its mouth, there is
little risk from it. Once the relief teams start coming in, and,
utilities start returning back to normal, these bags should be
disposed off. This is much safer than excreting in the open.
That would be risky for you, as well as open-excretion would
give rise to several sanitary issues.
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Some other precautions that you can take, which would make it
easier for you/your friends/relatives to control anxiety:
• Designate a person outside your area, who should be your
contact point. Instead of all your friends and family
members trying to reach you (after the news of the disaster
spreads) – to enquire about you, you should maybe, inform
just one person – outside the zone of disaster. This one
person should inform other friends and relations. This
serves three main purposes:
1. After a disaster, everybody is calling all their loved
ones – to enquire about their well-being. This causes
a severe burden on the communication system – which
are not designed to handle everybody on the phone at
the same time. Hence, many of your friends and
relatives are not able to get through you – and thus,
their anxiety about you keeps getting increased.
Instead, if it was pre-decided, they all would call
just one person – who is outside the zone of disaster,
and, the communication network there is not over-
stretched.
2. The already over-stretched telecom network is saved
some load. This allows relief agencies to use the
available telecom bandwidth for rescue and relief
operations.
3. Your own supply of batteries etc. lasts longer, if you
receive fewer calls
So, suppose, I grew up in city A, and, then, have moved to
city B. Hence, most of my friends and relatives are in city
A. Now, if there is a disaster in city B, I would call up
just one of my friends/relatives (pre-designated) in city
A. All my other friends and relatives would get in touch
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with this pre-designated person in city A – to enquire
about me.
• Designate a meeting place for your entire family. When a
disaster occurs, different members of the family could be
at different places. Even if all of them have survived, you
all might be taken to different shelter-camps and/or
medical facilities. You don’t want you/your family members
running all around the town – locating each other. Hence,
there should be a pre-designated place, where, all of you
would meet/send your locations – at the first available
opportunity. This pre-designated place could be some
friend/relative outside the immediate zone of disaster, say
a friend’s place. Even if you cannot physically be there,
you can at least call up and leave a message there – about
your location and/or well-being, as soon as there is an
opportunity.
• If you have a school-going child, arrange with someone to
pick up the child – in case of a disaster. With
communication and transportation network having broken
down, this someone (which could be you-yourself) has to be
somebody in the walking distance of the school. This person
can simply walk down to the school, and, pick up the child.
The school should be informed in advance about this person
being one of the allowed guardians to pick up the child in
case of an emergency/disaster.
Once again, have phone numbers for your child’s friends’
parents with you. Instead of everybody trying to call up
the school, share information among each other. The number
of phone lines that a school would have would be too few –
compared to the number of parents trying to get information
about the safety of their kids. Hence, if a fewer parents
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call up, and, can share information among each other, it
would be helpful.
Also, remember, with so many kids on their hands, the
teachers and the school staff would have their own anxiety.
Hence, cooperate with the school, rather than trying to
complicate matters for them – by
insisting/questioning/rushing-in etc.
• The above is also true, if you have an aged parent at home,
and, there is nobody at home – to help them evacuate etc.
during the time of disaster. Please enlist the help of some
neighbour to provide timely assistance to the aged and
feeble people.
• You should know the location of the controls for your
utilities, as well as how to turn them on/off – specially,
water, electricity, gas etc. Depending on the situation,
you might need to shut off certain utilities. E.g. if water
lines are leaking, and, water is pouring in, you might want
to turn off the water line. Or, if electrical wires are
snapped, you might want to turn off electricity supply.
Usually, there are several levels of controls, e.g. for
electricity, there might be switches to turns off supply
for individual rooms, entire house, or, even entire
neighbourhood. Depending upon the exact risk-location and
nature of the risk, you might want to turn off at the
appropriate location. E.g. if the risk is only inside a
house, turn off the supply for just that one house, rather
than the entire neighbourhood.
Now, that you are adequately prepared:
A. Do NOT panic at the time of the disaster. Think clearly. If
you are already prepared – by having mentally gone through
your disaster preparedness several times, you might just
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know what to do. And, if you have already taken the
precautions – you might have all the tools to deal with the
situation.
B. Be prepared to stay in it for the long haul, rather than
getting desperate and losing hope.
C. If possible, try to help others – those who are weak, e.g.
the aged, small children, people with any special needs,
those who are sick etc.
Once you have secured your own life, try to help others also –
depending on your strength – both physical and emotional. Just
make sure – not to put your own life and safety into jeopardy.
You could help in one or more of the following:
i. immediate help to the possible victims
ii. search and rescue
iii. record keeping (who is being sent to which hospital etc.) –
As soon as people start coming to their senses, they would
start looking for their near and dear ones. A good record
keeping system would allow people to know which of their
near-and-dear ones have survived, and, where have they been
taken (specific relief camps, treatment facilities etc.)
iv. Crowd control – so that people don’t risk themselves by
trying to go near damaged structures – because, inspite of
their best of intentions, they could cause more damage to
either themselves or others
Try to be on your own and pick up your lives as soon as its
possible and safe to do so. Don’t depend on alms and doles to
bail you out.
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Medical and other help would be really limited. Don’t try to
make too much noise about minor stuff. Adjust and compromise.
Let resources be used by those who have greater need for it.
If it appears that it will take a long time for the life to
return to normalcy, and, one has to move (creating situations of
migration/refugee etc.), try to move in with a relative or
friend for the duration, rather than relief camps being run by
various relief agencies. This will have several benefits. The
most notable being:
a. lesser burden on the relief system
b. lesser concentration at one place, because, the places
running the relief centers also get overburdened by the
sudden increase in demand to support a much larger number
of people
c. better sanitary and hygienic conditions
d. Most importantly: much less distressing – psychologically
and emotionally
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Earthquakes
What Is An Earthquake
Earthquakes refer to shaking of earth. There is continuous
activity going on below the surface of the earth. There are
several large plates (size of continents) below the surface of
the earth, which move (at a very slow speed). As a part of this
movement, sometimes, they collide against each other. And, after
the collision, they might still continue to push each other. As
they continually keep pushing each other, there is a pressure
building up – across these plates below the surface. And, then,
at a certain time, one of the plates might slide over another.
This causes an earthquake.
Some earthquakes might be caused by activity above the surface.
For example in a mountainous region, there might be a heavy
landslide. Due to a huge mass of land falling, at the point of
the fall, there could be a minor shaking of earth, due the
impact of fall. However, usually, such earthquakes are not very
major.
Classifying An Earthquake
The impact of an earthquake (at any location) is characterized
by two primary characteristics:
Intensity : This measures the magnitude of the event. Higher is
the value, the bigger is the magnitude. The most common scale
used for measuring an earthquake is Richter Scale. It should be
understood that Richter scale is a logarithmic scale. What this
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means is an earthquake measuring 6.0 is 10 times more powerful
than an earthquake measuring 5.0
Epicenter : This denotes the exact location, where the
earthquake originated. The deeper it is inside the earth, the
lower will be the impact on the surface – where human beings
reside.
There are 100s of earthquakes taking place on a daily basis all
around the world. However, most of these earthquakes are really
low-intensity, too-low to be noticed. However, sometimes there
are some earthquakes which are significantly intense.
Some Recent Earthquakes
Some of the earthquakes in recent times have been (not in any
particular order):
1. El Salvador; In 2001; Magnitude: 7.7
2. S. Peru; In 2001; Magnitude 7.9
3. Algeria; In 2003; Magnitude 6.8
4. Indonesia: In 2004; Magnitude 9.0
5. India; In 2001; Magnitude 8.1
6. China - Sichuan Province; In May 2008; Magnitued 8.1; More
than 68,000 dead, and, 3,50,000 injured
Fault Lines And Earthquakes
Usually, areas around fault-lines are more prone to earthquakes.
Some of the major fault lines are around:
1. Italy (hit in 1980; magnitude: 7.2)
2. Hayward, San Francisco in California (hit in 1906 at San
Francisco; magnitude: 7.8 and again in 1989 at Loma Preita;
magnitude: 6.9)
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3. Himalayan region (hit several times since 1999, at various
places spanning across Afghanistan, Pakistan, India etc.)
Nature of Losses And Damages
The most common kinds of loss that are caused by an earthquake
(depending on the severity) are:
Damage to structures : Causing partial or total collapse, damage
to road and rail network, damage to utility carriers etc.
Sea activity : Water level in the sea could rise suddenly,
causing very high waves, several meters in height, which could
then flood the coastal areas. These could give rise to tsunamis,
causing damage to coastal areas.
Landslide : As earth shakes, in mountainous regions, huge chunks
of land could fall/slide onto lower regions of the mountains.
This could have several impacts, including: changed topography,
blocked roadways, damage to anything that comes in the way of
the landslide, massive damage to the structure which sits on the
piece of sliding land – and massing damage to the houses and
roads where the piece of land finally lands. The landslide could
also trigger another set of minor earthquakes.
Quake Lakes: In the earthquake in China (May 2008), landslides
blocked Jiangjiang river, resulting in creations of (about 35)
lakes. These lakes in turn posed severe threat of flooding
downstreams - due to possible bursting. More than 1,50,000
people had to be evacuated - due to this threat of flooding.
Earthquakes typically impact a huge area, spanning whole city,
and many times, several cities. The impact due to this is that
besides the instantaneous damage to life and property at the
time of the event, there is a long-drawn suffering.
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Aftershocks
Earthquakes are also characterized by aftershocks. After any
major seismic activity below the earth, the new order might take
a while to finally settle down. During this time, there might be
some more activity below the earth (sort of “adjusting” of the
new positions for the various plates, layers etc.) These
activities result in several more earthquakes. These are called,
“aftershocks”. Typically, “aftershocks” are much smaller in
magnitude, however, some times, one of the “aftershocks” could
be more severe than the main earthquake. Also, “aftershocks”
could strike up to several days after the main event.
For example the earthquake in Northern Chile (Nov. 2007) has had
aftershocks till 3 days after the main earthquake.
Similarly, in China (May, 2008) an aftershock of the magnitude
of 6.4 on the Ritcher scale hit 13 days after the main
earthquake on May 12. This aftershock destroyed 70,000 houses
and damaged many more. Each of these aftershocks were increasing
the anxiety about the capacity of the quake-created lakes to
hold their water.
Implications of Aftershocks
The implications of “aftershocks” are the following:
• Structures which are not severely damaged during the main
earthquake could now get damaged during one of the
“aftershocks” – as they are getting continuously weakened
by the earthquake and the “aftershocks”.
• While rescue teams are trying to search through the debris
of fallen buildings/bridges etc for trapped people, an
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aftershock could destabilize the debris further, causing
these rescue teams themselves to become a victim. Besides,
increasing the list of victims, it has two other major
impacts:
o Loss of trained people and specialized equipments;
which in turn means significant impediment to the
speed of further rescue
o Fear among rescue teams for their own lives – due to
the possibility of an “aftershock” causes them to
proceed with extreme caution; thus, they are not able
to work to their fullest capability
In the May 2008 earthquake of Sichuan, about 200
relief workers died in mudslides triggered by
aftershocks.
• People who have suffered during an earthquake are in
psychological trauma. Each “aftershock” causes immense
panic amongst them.
Recognizing an Earthquake
The most common ways to identify the onset of an earthquake
would be:
• A feeling of shaking of the ground below you, if you are
sitting/standing. The most common feeling is – as if the
person is feeling giddy.
• Swinging of overhead hanging stuff, e.g. fans, chandeliers
etc. However, in this situation, you should distinguish
between swaying of overhead hanging stuff – due to wind
• A feeling as if both the rear tires of your car are flat
(if you are driving)
Immediate Injuries
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During an earthquake, there are many ways by which one can get
hurt (many times, fatally)
1. People inside buildings could get hurt (even critically) by
fall of objects/walls/ceilings
2. People outside the buildings could get hurt by falling
debris from damaged buildings, glasses etc.
3. People traveling could get hurt by their vehicles falling
off the tracks, bridges, material falling from overhead
bridges etc.
4. People could get electrocuted by snapped electrical wires
5. People could get washed away by floods – caused due to
tsunamis, breaches in dams etc.
Immediate Safety
Hence, in case of an earthquake, the safest place to be would be
in an open ground – away from all kinds of buildings and tall
structures.
If you cannot rush out of your building, you can duck under some
sturdy desk etc. which might provide protection against heavy
objects falling on your body.
If even that is not possible, sit against a wall, with your back
pushing the wall firmly, and, lean forward – to take your head
in between both your knees, and, put your hands at the back of
your head – to provide protection to your head and spine.
Or, you could stand directly below one of the door-frame in your
house. This one appears a bit strange to many people. In fact,
there are jokes that after an earthquake – you don’t see all
those door-frames standing. So, what’s the reasoning behind
advising people to stand below door-frames? In most styles of
construction, doorframes are made very strong, or, would have a
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“RCC beam” running right above these frames. Either way, this
“strong” structure would take the impact of objects falling from
above, and, would break the impact of the heavy objects falling
on the person. If you use this posture, remember to save your
arms and fingers from swaying doors etc. If not careful, they
could cause damage by chopping off fingers etc. due to the
banging of the doors against the frame.
Predicting An Earthquake
Earthquakes have very low predictability in short term, i.e. in
most cases, there is no warning – even a few minutes before an
earthquake. However, in most cases, a much higher degree of
predictability exists in long term – in the sense that if a
certain area is sitting on a fault line, it can be said that
over a long period of time, there is a high risk of earthquake.
However, whether the earthquake occurs within the next few
minutes, few years, few decades – or, maybe a few centuries
might not be predicted.
In April 2008, USGS reported that the state has a 46% chance of
a 7.5 or larger earthquake in California state during the next
30 years. So, relatively high predictability over the next 30
years, but, absolutely zero predictability in the immediate
short term!
There are certain schools of thoughts that believe that there
are certain animal instincts which provide certain degree of
indication of an impending earthquake. While the beliefs in this
matter are varied, the closest scientific successful attempt to
predict an earthquake is known to be the incident of earthquake
at Haicheng, Liaoning Province of China in Feb. 1975. An alert
local community and the earthquake administration noticed a
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change in water level in ground-wells as well as behaviour
patterns of certain animals. Taking this to be an indication of
an impending earthquake, many people were evacuated out of their
houses. Even though, many people had to stay outdoors in the
cold, it is believed that timely evacuation helped in saving
thousands of lives.
Still, the scientific community is divided about the possibility
of accurately predicting earthquakes. Even if the above example
is considered as an example of ability to predict earthquakes,
its a matter of fact – that since 1975 many more earthquakes
have jolted our earth, without anybody being forewarned. Some of
these have been in China itself.
Many countries monitor the seismic activity below the earth.
Since there are a lot of seismic activities below the earth on a
continuous basis, these countries are not necessarily interested
in these low-intensity activities. However, their interest is to
see if there is a sudden increase in seismic activities. An
increase in seismic activity could imply an impending earthquake
in the near-future. However, how close (in “time”) might still
not be predictable.
Constructing Your House
People who stay in an earthquake prone area might do well to
make investments in earthquake-proofing of their houses.
The process starts with the construction of the house.
Traditionally, people in earthquake prone areas used to build
homes using lighter materials, and, also materials which could
be reused, e.g. wood. The advantage with wood is: being lighter
– it does not cause heavy damage – when it falls on the
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residents, and, secondly, most of the wood can be salvaged from
the debris, and, reused. This reduces the cost of rebuilding.
However, during the last several decades, due to change in
construction technology, people are going in for concrete
structures – specially designed to withstand earthquakes or
other seismic activities. The choice of concrete over wood is
gaining ground, because: if the structure is well-designed to
withstand earthquakes, it would not get damaged. So, there is
“no” cost of rebuilding, and, there is no damage due to falling
material. However, the cost of construction would be high. Since
people build houses for long-term, and, earthquakes have a
certain degree of predictability in long period, there is an
increasing acceptance to the idea of this investment.
Some simple thumb rules to follow for constructing a house in an
area prone to earthquake:
1. The entire construction should be a single monolithic
structure, so that the whole structure can move as a whole
2. To the extent possible, material used should be something
that has been available locally. This would allow very
little differential in the movement of your building vis-à-
vis the material over which the house sits – thus reducing
the chances of sinking
3. Minimum use of glass in building facades. These decorative
pieces could be deadly, during an earthquake. Glass being
very brittle, even a minor twist in the structure could
cause breakage. And, glass being very heavy and injurious
could cause severe damage.
4. Doors and windows should have fasteners, so that they can
be fastened. If the doors and windows are not fastened,
they might cause any of the following situations:
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o Swaying/banging of doors and windows against the frame
could damage your limbs/fingers/toes etc.
o The doors might get “stuck” due to damaged/misaligned
frame – making it difficult for you to run out, or,
for the rescue teams to reach you.
5. Consult a good structural engineer to ensure that the
structure is strong enough to withstand seismic activities
Earthquake-Proof Your Home
When staying in the house, simple precautions should be used:
1. Large/heavy items should be fastened, so that they don’t
fall-off, during earthquakes.
2. Hanging items (like: fan, chandeliers, decorations etc.)
should be fastened, rather than just left hanging through a
hook
3. You should be adequately prepared to live without
utilities for several days. As earthquake causes severe
damages over large areas, most of the utilities that we
might take for granted, might not be available for several
days. These are anyways generic precautions against
disasters of any kind.
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Volcanoes
Volcanoes refer to eruption of hot molten lava from below the
surface of the earth. As plates move away from each other, at
certain places, the surface might get stretched and thinner. In
such a situation, the hot molten lava and gaseous substances
below this thinned surface could open up a fissure and come out.
Typically, these eruptions are always accompanied by discharge
of huge amount of gaseous substances, which are various
compounds of high toxicity. All eruptions (gaseous or liquid)
from a volcano is at high temperature, and, the mouth of a
volcano might look like, as if it’s spewing fire.
The area around Pacific Ocean is characterized by higher
volcanic activity. In fact, the entire rim along the Pacific
Ocean is called as the “Ring Of Fire”, because of volcanic
activity along this zone.
There are a lot of volcanic activities taking place on a
continuous basis, across the globe, however, not all of these
are serious enough to be termed as disasters. In fact, for most
of these – just a moderate level of precaution might be
sufficient.
Some of the most damaging volcanic activities of the past have
been:
1. Mount Pinatubo in Phillipines (1991-96)
2. Rabaul in Papua NewGuinea (1994)
3. Lake Nyos in Cameroon (1986)
4. Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia (1985)
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5. El Chichon in Mexico (1982)
Some of the deadliest volcanoes based upon the book "Volcanic
Hazards: A Sourcebook on the Effects of Eruptions by Russell J.
Blong (Academic Press, 1984)" are listed below. Click on the
title to sort.
Place year Number of deaths
Tambora, Indonesia 1815 92000
Krakatau, Indonesia 1843 36417
Mount Pelee, Matinique 1902 29025
Ruiz Colombia 1985 25000
Unzen Japan 1792 14300
Laki, Iceland 1783 9350
Kelut, Indonesia 1919 5110
Galunggung, Indonesia 1882 4011
Vesuvius, Italy 1631 3500
Vesuvius, Italy 79 3360
Papandayan, Indonesia 1772 2957
Lamington, Papua New Guinea 1951 2942
El Chichon, Mexico 1982 2000
Soufriere, St. Vincent 1902 1680
Oshima, Japan 1741 1475
Asama, Japan 1783 1377
Taal, Philippines 1911 1335
Volcanoes are classified as Active, Dormant and Extinct.
• “Active” volcanoes means those which are showing activity
at this time.
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• “Dormant” volcanoes those which are not showing any
activity at this time, but, could show activity at any
time.
• “Extinct” volcanoes are those which were “active” at some
time, but, have ceased volcanic eruptions now.
However, considering that volcanoes have a life of several
million years, including “dormant” period of up to several
thousands of years (sometimes), the above classification is
mostly academic!
Usually, if you are staying/visiting in the vicinity of an
“active” volcano, it would do good to be prepared for volcano
related disasters.
There are several web-sites which give information on current
volcanic activities. Some of the popular ones are - Global
Volcano Report by Smithsonian Institute and Recent Earthquakes &
Active Volcanoes list by Virtual Times.
Usually, most volcanoes do not result in any major disaster,
and, people around areas of low volcanic activity have learnt to
live with the volcanic activity. However, some of the volcanic
eruptions which turn into disaster cause a very high number of
fatalities, e.g. volcanic activity in Colombia in 1985 caused
more than 23,000 deaths.
Besides, more often than not, volcanoes themselves might not
cause any direct deaths, but, the post-volcanic complications
cause more deaths. In such cases, the exact number of fatalities
attributable to volcanoes cannot be known for several years
after the event.
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Volcanoes themselves might not appear to be a big disaster, but,
they cause several complications.
• Because of activities below the surface of the earth,
including discharge of a huge amount of material, its
possible that volcanic eruptions could be accompanied by
earthquakes.
• Volcanic activity in sea could cause triggering of
Tsunamis.
• Because of discharge of very high quantity of toxic
material onto the landscape, sources of water like
lakes/rivers etc. could get poisoned, thereby severely
disrupting the water-supply. Also, the change in water
composition could impact the aquatic organisms also. Thus,
overall ecosystem of the water-body is misbalanced, thus,
impacting the water quality. This could even impact the
areas fed downstream by these same water bodies.
• Because of discharge of high amount of toxic gases in the
atmosphere – the air could become highly difficult to
breathe. Release of several gases – including oxides,
sulfides, aerosols etc. changes the atmospheric mix of the
area. These in turn can give rise to:
o “acid rain”
o Discharge of “aerosols” into the atmosphere alters the
filtering impact of the atmosphere – for Sun’s
radiation as well as for heat from the earth getting
radiated back into the space. This can change the
temperature of the area.
• Molten lava coming out of a volcano could reach
temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius, thus, incernating
anything that comes in its way.
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• Structural damages: Lava flowing down at such a high
temperature could cause structural damages
• Landslide: As lava flows down, it gets solidified, and,
modifies the landscape. However, sometimes a fresh layer of
lava at high temperature could destabilize the earlier
solidified layer, and, that layer could simply slide off –
causing a landslide.
• Lack of drinking water and breathable air causes people to
migrate from their existing place of living to other
places, thereby causing situations of migration, refugees.
Besides, being emotionally distressful, there are severe
kinds of physical stress and strain also associated with
migration activities. And then, the resources at the
destination side are also stretched beyond their normal
capacity.
So, effectively, a volcanic activity could cause damage and loss
of life due to one or more of the following:
• Contact with high temperature lava
• Earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides etc
• Poisoning of air and water
• Change in radiation levels and or toxic levels, impacting
vegetation cover etc
• Post-activity starvation
• Diseases etc. due to lack of proper sanitation facilities
in relief camps etc. in case large scale exodus is
involved.
Even if volcanic activities do not result in too many
fatalities, they still do create immense challenges in terms of
humanitarian aid, due to destruction of houses, contamination of
food and water. Also, one has to deal with large-scale
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migration, relief camps etc. which also give rise to sanitation
concerns – which in turn results in various complications due to
diseases related to lack of proper sanitation facilities.
During a volcanic activity, the best place to be would be
indoors. Because the atmosphere is full of toxic chemicals, put
filter-masks over your mouth and nose, and, use goggles to
protect your eyes. Being outdoors could be one of the riskiest
thing to do, as, you could be coming in contact with volcanic
ashes – which could cause irritation to your eyes, skin etc. at
the bare minimum, and, could also cause breathlessness, or, long
term damage to your lungs, eyes etc.
Avoid weak structures, including the fresh layers which might
have been formed by solidifying of lava during earlier
discharges. This is usually a mistake that tourists might make.
Tourists might have a tendency to get closer to the source of
gaseous/lava discharge – thus, maybe, standing on such
structures which are unstable and are probable to slide.
Avoid being in the path of flow of the molten lava.
Avoid fumes/vapors of petrol etc. Presence of high temperature
material in the atmosphere could cause a fire, if these fumes
come in contact with high temperature material, e.g. During the
Nyiragongo volcanic activity (Jan. 2002), people were trying to
siphon off petrol from a gas-station. A leakage came in contact
with the hot lava, and, caused a blast at the gas-station,
causing more than 50 people to die.
The inlets to your houses should be covered with filters, or,
these inlets should be closed – to prevent toxic ashes etc. to
enter your house etc. Avoid use of electronic goods, as, ashes
might have entered the vent of these goods (usually provided for
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heat-dissipation), and, could cause short-circuit inside the
devices.
Because, one of the main issues post-volcano is lack of water
and food, it would help to familiarize with General
Preparedeness – which also provides certain tips on being able
to survive for several days – provided, preparations have been
made in advance.
Post-volcano also, efforts must be made to minimize contact with
the debris/ashes which have been spewed by the volcano. Clothes
must be shaken and rinsed. Ashes must be vacuumed, and, the
vacuum lint filter should be changed. Car filters should be
changed, and so on.
If you are staying in an area, which is prone to volcanic
activities, the houses should be constructed in a manner which
will allow closing all vents, i.e. windows and doors should have
proper caulking.
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Floods
Floods refer to huge amount of water reaching land in a short
span of time, causing land surface to be submerged under water –
at places, where, land surface is usually not covered with
water.
Floods could be caused due to natural causes, or, human
activities, or, a combination of both. Floods are caused by
discharge of huge volume of water in a short span of time, at a
rate, such that the water cannot be carried away from the scene
of discharge.
Some of the possible reasons for such huge discharge of water
could be:
A. very heavy rainfall (say: due to cyclones, typhoons etc.)
in a short span of time. It should be noted that the amount
of rainfall itself is not a sufficient cause, the duration
within which the rainfall is receive is equally important
contributor
B. breach in levy, dams etc
C. very high tidal waves (sometimes in the aftermath of a
seismic activity, e.g. earthquakes) etc. – also called
tsunamis
Usually, flooding impacts a large area, wherein entire district
or states might be flooded. However, sometimes, flooding is very
local, i.e. limited to just one city, or, parts of it. Most
often, the localized flooding is caused due to human activities,
rather than natural phenomenon. A natural phenomenon might seem
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like the immediate trigger, but, in reality, this is caused by
human activity.
There are some places, which get flooded almost every year. One
such example is Bangladesh. Some of the other places which had
incidents of bad flooding in the recent past include:
• Florida, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina (2005)
• Myanmar (2008)
• Portions of Coastal India get flooded almost each year
Among various kinds of disasters, flooding is unique in the
sense that it has a very high degree of predictability, both in
the short term, as well as long term. In most situations, flood
prone areas are quite known – in the sense that they have a
history of flooding. Only in very rare situations, a place might
be flooded – without having any past history of flooding. Even
in such cases, a careful study of the area could give an
indication of possible flooding.
Flood Prone Areas
The areas, which are prone to flood-risks are:
A. places, which have a history of flooding (most
important)
B. area receiving heavy rainfall, with not much naturally
sloping landscape
C. areas at the lower levels of naturally sloping
landscape – where, the higher areas are receiving
heavy rainfall
D. areas around sea-coasts, or, river banks
E. areas downstream of dams etc. As water level upstream
of dams might rise, the dam authorities might be
forced to release water (to safeguard the dam) – which
might cause flooding of downstream areas
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F. areas on the other side of levies (in case, the levy
gets breached)
G. low-lying areas (say: foot of an over-bridge etc.)
Loss due to Flooding
The most common kinds of loss that are caused during flooding
include:
a. Lack of water: It’s an irony, that a disaster which mean
water everywhere, results in lack of water to drink and
sanitation. Lack of proper drinking water and sanitation
causes widespread outbreak of diseases.
b. Lack of food: Most of the food items get damaged, causing a
severe shortage of food. This shortage could be for the
food to be consumed in the near future, or, even standing
crops could be damaged, causing long-term food shortage.
c. Lack of utilities: Utility services might have to be turned
off, for the fear of electrocution, as, there is water
everywhere.
d. Widespread damage to structure
e. Drowning: People, livestock, goods etc. might get drowned.
f. Snakes and other creatures: Some of the dangerous creatures
which usually stay underground would be forced to come up,
as their natural habitat becomes unlivable. These could
prove dangerous to human beings and cattle.
g. Submerging of vehicles and other equipments: Vehicles and
other equipments might get permanently damaged – as they
remain submerged under water – for prolonged duration.
Because of wide-spread impact of such floods, the suffering
could be long-drawn, besides the immediate impact – as mentioned
above.
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Indicators of Possible Flooding
Usually, any of the following situations should indicate the
possibility of flooding:
• heavy rainfall in/around the vicinity, especially, if the
specific location falls in the pathway of the water-
discharge system from the area receiving heavy rainfall
• if there is heavy rainfall/flow of water/accumulation of
water, on the other side of a boundary, e.g. across a dam,
across a levy, side of a river-embankment etc., because,
these boundaries might get breached
As can be seen, both the above situations can be predicted to a
reasonable degree. These days, the meteorological predictions
are accurate enough for upto 4-5 days. Hence, its usually
possible to know about the possibility of heavy rainfall about
4-5 days in advance.
Also, areas which are prone to heavy rainfall, cyclones,
typhoons etc. are also well-known. Hence, the predictability is
very high even in long-term, in the sense, that certain areas
are known to be flood-prone. The advantage of long-term
predictability is that people might be able to take long-term
precautionary measures also – requiring heavy investments.
Also, for situations, where, there is a boundary between huge
mass of water, and, your living place, again, keeping an eye on
the following two situations should be a good indication of the
possibility of flooding:
1. increase in the volume/mass of water being built up on the
other side of the boundary
2. general maintenance and upkeep of the boundary
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General level of civic maintenance is a good indication of the
possibility of flooding, during rainfall. If the drains and
streets are generally clean, the possibility of flooding gets
reduced; on the other hand, if the drains and streets are
generally choked or dirty, the chances of flooding (at least at
the local level) get increased.
Now, that we know, how can we figure out the possibility of
flooding, let’s look at the possibility of preventing it.
Prevention of Flood
Sometimes, it might not be possible to prevent a flood, even if
we know that it’s about to get flooded. However, there are
certain actions that can be taken to reduce the impact
significantly, or, to reduce the possibility of flooding:
1. The first step is to keep the drainage system clean. This
allows water to be carried down very fast. Choked drains
cause a significant reduction in the ability and speed of
the water to be drained away. In most situations of urban
flooding – this is a major cause. The drains might get
choked due to throwing of solid-wastes inside storm drains.
These solid-wastes might include construction material,
plastics, paper etc. This is a clear example, how human
activity can amplify the process of flooding. Drains might
also get choked due to falling tree-leaves etc.
2. General clean-up of streets is also important. As rain-
water falls down the street, it rushes into the storm
drains. if the streets are not clean, the rain water trying
to go into the drain – carries solid wastes into the drain
with itself, which then obstructs the flow of water by the
drainage system.
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3. Rain water harvesting system: As more rain-water tries to
flow down the drains, it puts that much more stress on the
drainage system. Instead, if there are several rain-water
harvesting systems, the rainfall falling in that much area
would try to go to the sub-soil of the region locally,
rather than straining the drainage system. Lower is the
amount of water trying to go through the drainage system,
the easier it is for the drainage system to drain off the
water.
4. Desilting: The drains should be desilted before the onset
of the rainy season. This prevents the drains from getting
choked. And, it also increases the holding capacity of the
drain, as, accumulated silt prevents that much more water
from being accumulated in the drains.
5. Inspection and repair of dams, levees, embankments etc:
Before the onset of seasons causing accumulation and/or
carrying of heavy volume of water (such as rainy season),
these structures should be thoroughly inspected for
possible weak-spots, and, these should be repaired.
6. Afforestation: Forestation helps in binding the loose soil.
The most major impact of this is, as flood-water races
through, it might take loose soil with it. This loose soil
will now choke the drains, as well as water-harvesting
systems, thus, rendering both of these as ineffective. On
the other hand, trees will prevent soil to flow with the
water, as, the roots of the trees will act as binding
force. Another major impact that afforestation provides is
by reducing the impact of flowing water. This has impact on
large-scale flooding, such as overflowing river. As water
charges forward, its speed is reduced to some extent due to
resistance offered by trees. This can reduce the force of
the charging water – thereby, reducing structural damage –
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due to weakening in the force with which water hits various
structures.
7. Local lowlands (say: foot of an over-bridge) should have
storm drains, so that water does not get accumulated there.
These drains should have some kind of mesh covering, so
that only water can flow in. Leaves and other solid debris
should not go in these drains.
8. Local embankments around low-lying houses etc: Let’s say,
for some reason, your house is at a level lower than its
vicinity (e.g. road-level). This can happen, because, say:
you have constructed a basement – which is obviously lower
than the road-level, or, over a period of years, the road-
level has risen due to repeated tarring etc. In such cases,
you should create a “local” embankment between the
street/road and your property, so that water cannot flow
“down” from the street/road inside your house. These
embankments might be permanent – in the form of concrete
structure.
Besides impacting the process of flooding itself, most (not all)
of these factors also have an immense impact on the rate at
which water levels might recede – after the source of the
flooding has been removed. e.g. Let’s say a city got flooded,
after heavy rainfall. Now, once the rainfall is stopped, the
water levels in the streets etc. might tend to recede. At this
stage, once again, the rate at which water levels can recede is
dependent on the ability of the storm drains to carry the
accumulated water, as well as the total amount of water that has
been accumulated – which needs to be drained out.
Being Prepared
People who stay in flood-prone areas should construct their
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houses using material which does not get damaged severely due to
flood-water. Also, since, there is a strong risk of structural
damage (for large-scale flooding), the material used to
construct the house should be such that it can withstand high
impact – due to the charge of flowing water. One should prefer
areas, which are slightly elevated. These could be local
elevations, i.e. higher parts of the city etc. There should be
strong embankments along all entrances of the houses – so that
flood water does not enter the house easily.
Cement bags, covered with plastic sheets might be used to keep
the flood water from entering the houses.
Besides, long boots should always be kept, so that one does not
run the risk of being bitten by snakes and/or other insects that
might also be trying to save themselves from the twirling flood-
waters.
One should keep arrangements for raising the height of items,
which might get damaged in water, e.g. put a few pieces of
bricks below the legs of the furniture, such as bed etc. to
raise its height.
Important document should always be kept on higher shelves.
As water, food and utilities would not be available – and that
too – for possibly several days, one should also take measures
towards General Preparedness
Macro Level Efforts
While some of the steps mentioned above need to be taken at
municipal/city level, and, some at individual level, there are
some other techniques which have been tried/used at some places.
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However, these require efforts at a much larger level. Some of
these steps include:
• Identified flood diversion areas: Flood waters are diverted
to these unpopulated areas, so that populated urban areas
may be protected.
• Construction of dams etc. at strategic locations
• Levees, embankments around cities lying along river/sea
coasts. The flooding of New Orleans – in the aftermath of
Katrina hurricane was due to a breach in such a levee.
• Sea walls
• Beach nourishment: The sea-beaches are widened, so that
they can absorb the impact of flood-waters – due to rise in
sea-levels.
• Conversion of flood-prone areas into wetlands, where,
urbanization is not allowed, i.e. one cannot construct
residential houses, or, any other permanent structures etc.
As can be seen, such efforts require a very high degree of
financial commitment, not just for constructing the system, but,
also for maintaining it.
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Tornadoes, Typhoons, Cyclones
These are winds of high-speed, many times accompanied by heavy
rainfall. These cause structural damage, snapped overhead wires,
and, possibility of floods.
Because of damage to structure and overhead wires, utility
services could be disrupted. Heavy rainfall could cause flooding
also.
Many times, these could last for a few days. In such cases, any
restoration and relief activities cannot even start till these
few days when the activities start subsiding.
The only thing good about these kinds of natural disasters is
that they can be predicted to a reasonable degree - thanks to
the advancement of metrological sciences. And, in most cases,
it’s possible to get a warning of up to several days. Usually,
it is possible to take at least some preventive measures -
during these few days of warning. In most cases, the preventive
measure would include:
• Moving into places which are safer, e.g. buildings which
are structurally sound, and, are not prone to flooding
• Not venturing out to sea etc for sports, fishing etc.
However, in spite of these warnings, damage to property cannot
be mitigated much, as, immovable structures cannot be relocated.
Another important thing about these kinds of strong winds and
rainfall is that they don’t appear totally at will. There are
well-defined geographical areas, which tend to see incidents of
typhoons and cyclones. This means that, people inhabiting these
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areas could take some fundamental care, while, building homes
etc. These are:
• Sturdy home, with very strong foundation and structure.
• Typically, most people build basements. These basements
provide good shelter, and, storage space for food and water
to last for a few days for the entire household.
• Proper embankments to prevent flooding etc.
• Storage of cement-bags and plastic sheets to prepare
additional embankments against flooding, if required.
The people who suffer the most are poor people, because:
• they don’t have the means to build very strong houses, and
hence, these houses get blown off/damaged
• they don’t have the means to buy and store food and
provisions for several days, causing them to take risks of
venturing out during heavy winds/rainfalls to make some
money
• In coastal areas of poor country, fishermen have been known
to venture out to sea, even during cyclones etc.
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Fire
Fire is a very good servant, but, a very bad master. As long as
fire is under our control, it serves a lot of useful purposes
for us, but, once it goes out of our control, it can create a
lot of destruction. However, despite the presence of fire safety
measures, the occurrence of accidents is oftentimes inevitable.
It is this combination (of good servant and bad master), which
is dangerous.
Because of the useful purposes that it serves, people keep
sources of fire in/around their houses/workplace. And, these
sources could sometimes result in "undesired" fire. Had fire
been something, which serves no useful purpose – the number of
incidents of fire would have been very less – as people won’t
keep sources of fire around them.
Thus, the occurrence of fire-related accidents is oftentimes
inevitable - in spite of all the safety precautions. For this
reason, an insurance policy should always be taken.
Causes Of Fire
The most common causes of fire are: Electrical, Pantry Area,
Smoking
Electrical
Incidents of Fire mainly caused due to overloading, short
circuit etc. As people start staying in a new apartment, or, a
new office, they start making modifications to the wall socket
outlets – in order to be able to plug in additional apparatus
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etc. Then, there reaches a time, when the total amount of
current drawn from all the sockets together could exceed the
rated capacity of the internal wiring.
A simple solution to this is - not to make too many changes to
the electrical circuitry inside your apartment/work-place. And,
any alterations etc. if done, should keep in mind the capacity
of the wires used.
As time progresses, due to various minor repairs etc. wires
might be changed, jumbled up etc., or, the insulation among
wires might break down. This might cause some wires to come in
contact with each other, and, thus, create a short circuit. This
short-circuit can cause a very high current flow through the
wires – and, thus causing fires.
A simple solution to this is: periodic inspection of the
conditions of the wiring, and, taking preventive action,
whenever needed. And, install MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breakers),
so that any short-circuit would result in immediate
disconnection of the current flow.
Pantry Area
Incidents involving cooking gas, cooking oil etc.
Leakage of cooking gas, accompanied by a spark around the
leakage could cause fire. These are typically very dangerous.
Sources of sparks could be anything: - a burning item, turning
on/off of electrical gadgets/switches etc.
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The leak itself can be in the gas cylinder itself, the pipeline
carrying the gas, the regulator, joints etc. Some simple
precautions to be taken for this include:
• Regular inspection of gas pipes, and, timely
replacement.
• No sparks etc. in case there is any trace of LPG
smell. LPG itself does not have any odour. A trace
odour is put in the LPG – only so that any leakage
might be detected.
• Just like electrical points, turn off gases at
multiple points, when not in use, rather than just at
the point of usage.
While cooking, sometimes, the cooking medium could get
overheated, resulting in fire. These are more frequent, but,
fortunately - relatively easy to manage (if attended to
immediately).
A simple precaution to be taken for this is - never let cooking
oil etc. unattended, when its being heated, nor, do keep bottles
of oil etc. in contact with very hot object, like, hot utensils
etc.
Smoking
Smoking in/around combustible materials could cause fire, due to
hot ashes falling from the cigarette.
Some simple precautions to be taken include:
• Don’t smoke in/around bed, sofa etc.
• When you throw away the cigarette etc. always stub it
out
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• Always try to dispose of the cigarette-ash at proper
places
Uneven Distribution Of Incidents
Incidents of fires are usually not evenly distributed. There are
higher numbers of fires during:
• Summer season: Due to higher ambient temperature; as well
as leaves etc. being dry - catch fire easily. This is the
time, when many forest-fires start.
• Some specific festive events – due to use/availability of
fire-crackers, and/or lights etc. Fire based lights could
pose a direct fire-risk, while, electricity based lighting
could cause the risk due to overloading.
Hence, it’s more important to be especially careful during these
periods. Not only are the chances of incidents higher, but, the
chances of your local fire department being overloaded is also
very high. This might have an impact on their ability to respond
swiftly to your call – in case there is a need – as they could
be busy fighting fire elsewhere.
Conditions Needed For A Fire
For a fire to take shape (as well as continue), the following
three conditions should be met:
1. A combustible material
2. A specific temperature at which the above material would
burn
3. Some fuel (mostly oxygen) to aid the burning
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When petrol/gasoline is burning, the petrol/gasoline is the
combustible material, and, the atmosphere provides the fuel
(oxygen). The presence of the above 3 elements together is
called the “fire triangle”. Each of these 3 elements have to be
present to start a fire, and for the fire to continue. Sometime,
one element may aid in producing the other element.
Let’s consider an example of how one element aids in the
production of another element. Let’s say, we want to burn a
piece of cloth. The cloth is lying there in front of us. There
is enough oxygen in the atmosphere. But, the cloth does not
burn. So, we now douse the cloth in gasoline. Still, there is no
fire. Now, we burn a matchstick – by rubbing a matchstick
against the matchbox/matchbook. This rubbing causes a minor
increase in temperature. At this temperature, the matchstick
lights up. The lighted matchstick creates still higher
temperature. Now, when the matchstick is touched to the doused
(with petrol/gasoline) piece of cloth, the petrol/gasoline also
starts burning. This further increases the temperature, which
causes the cloth to start burning, which can now produce still
higher temperature. So, here, friction caused an increase in
temperature. This increase in temperature converted the
matchstick into a combustible element. This in turn raised the
temperature further, and so on.
Now, that we know that for a fire to be sustained, we need all 3
arms of the fire-triangle. This forms the fundamental principle
behind all fire-fighting techniques.
If we have to control a fire, the way to extinguish it is to
remove at least one arm of the fire-triangle. Sometimes, we
might want to simultaneously attack 2 arms also. That is because
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we know that one arm could aid the other arm. So, by trying to
simultaneously fight two arms, we might achieve the results
faster.
It’s a matter of experience and the situation which decides
which arm to fight. Usually, you try to remove that arm, which
is the easiest to remove.
Classes Of Fire
Let us also understand the classes of fires.
Class A
These are fires that involve some solid material like,
clothers, paper, junk-heap, wood etc.
Class B
These are fires that involve liquid materials like: petrol,
gasoline, diesel, oil etc.
Class C
These are fires that involve electrical elements
Class D
These are fires are those involve metals
Its important to know about the classes of fires because fire-
extinguishers are classified and marked based on the type of
fire on which they would be effective.
So, in case of a fire, you first want to know the Class of fire,
so that you can use the right extinguishers.
If you use the wrong extinguisher(s), the result could be fatal
also in some cases. In best case situation, there would be no
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injury etc. but, you could still loose precious time - in
performing an activity which is useless.
Types Of Fire Extinguishers
- Water Based
- Foam Based
- CO2 Based
- CFC Based
- Dry Chemical Based
Water Based
These are most effective on Class A fires.
On Class B fires, these are mostly ineffective. This is because,
oil/petrol/gasoline etc. being lighter than water continues to
float over water, and, thus, it continues to burn. In some
cases, use of water based extinguishers on Class B fires could
turn out to be injurious also. That is because, as water is
thrown over burning fuel, the force due to water-stream could
cause burning petrol etc. to be sputtered, and, this hot fuel
could cause injury, if it falls on somebody.
On Class C fires, these should never be used. Use of water based
extinguishers on Class C fires would surely be fatal. That is
because, water is a good conductor of electricity, and, the
electric current flows through the water-jet directly into the
hands of the person who is holding the water-hose, resulting in
immediate electrocution.
The way, these extinguishers work is: As water reaches the
burning material – because of the high temperature, it
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vaporizes. While vaporizing, it extracts the latent heat from
the burning element, thereby reducing the temperature. Besides,
as it vaporizes, it expands. Usually, the expansion is in the
order of 100 times (by volume). The need for higher volume of
steam (vaporized water) displaces oxygen from the immediate
vicinity of the burning material, thus, cutting off the oxygen
supply.
Also, water being non-combustible material also tries to form a
coating between the atmosphere (which is supplying the oxygen)
and the combustible material.
Thus, it tries to reduce temperature, as well as displace
oxygen, thus, attacking two arms of the fire-triangle, while,
making a very feeble attack on the third arm also.
Foam Based
These are used mostly on Class B fires. It can also be used on
Class A fires. These should never be used on Class C fires. The
main constituent of foam being water – it can easily prove to be
fatal on a Class C fire.
Foam being lighter engulfs the burning liquid. By covering the
burning liquid, it cuts off the supply of oxygen to the burning
material. Besides, the vaporization of water also helps in
reduction of temperature – due to extraction of latent heat.
The basic principle is thus, similar to Water Based
Extinguisher. The only difference is, foam stays above burning
oil, and thus, trying to engulf it - something that water could
not do.
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CO2 Based
These are mostly used on Class C fires. It can also be used on
Class A and Class B fires. These kind of extinguishers might
also be used to extinguish fires in computers, costly electronic
equipments etc. where, usage of water etc. could cause damage to
the equipment.
The biggest advantage of these kinds of extinguishers is that it
does not leave any residue, smell or mess.
However, usage of these kinds of extinguishers in confined space
could result in poisoning. Because, under lack of oxygen,
carbon-dioxide could act as a fuel, and, the resulting gas
produced could be carbon-monoxide – which is highly poisonous.
The way these extinguishers work is: A stream of dry-ice (trade
name for solidified carbon-dioxide) is directed towards fire.
Dry ice being very cold helps to reduce the temperature. Being
heavy, carbon-dioxide gas settles on the burning equipments,
thus blowing away the oxygen – thereby cutting out the
availability of oxygen.
Sometimes, the printed circuit boards (PCBs) of these electrical
equipments could develop a crack, because the burning material
which was hot is suddenly subjected to a very cold temperature
(of dry ice). However, having a few cracks on a few boards might
be a better choice than using water/foam, which will cause total
short-circuit within the electrical circuit.
Carbon-dioxide based extinguishers have an additional advantage.
Being primarily gaseous in nature, the extinguishing agent can
easily percolate inside machinery through fine slots (usually
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provided for ventilation/heat dissipation) on the outer casing
of the equipments. So, it can be much more effective in fires
which are inside the casing of electronic equipments.
CFC Based
These are mostly used on Class C fires. It can also be used on
Class A and Class B fires. The main difference between CO2 Based
Extinguisher and CFC based extinguishers is that instead of
carbon-dioxide, it uses some inert gases, like: CFCs. These
extinguishers also do not leave any residue, smell or mess.
However, these are highly damaging to the environment (because
of the tendency of CFCs to deplete the ozone layer). Many
variants of CFCs are already banned. Some newer (and, cleaner)
variants are already under consideration.
These extinguishers are very costly (both in terms of money as
well as impact on environment), and hence, should be used only
on very costly, specialty equipments.
The working of these equipments is very simple. They simply
displace the oxygen at the burning site. And, these being highly
inert gases – would not take part in any chemical reaction
(including the process of burning), nor would let the burning
material take part in the burning process – thereby
extinguishing the fire.
These kinds of extinguishers can also be used on metallic fires
(Class D). Other extinguishers mentioned earlier could have
mixed results on Class D fire, depending on which metal is
burning.
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Dry Chemical Based
These are most commonly used type of extinguishers. It can be
used on Class A, B and C fire. Hence, its popularly also called
as ABC type extinguisher. Its impact on Class D fire could be
varied, depending on the type of metal being burnt.
It works in the following way: It stores dry yellowish chemical
powder (mono-ammonium phosphate) under pressure of nitrogen gas
(or, any other inert gas). When turned on, the dry powder is
sprayed with pressure onto the burning material, along with the
inert gas. Nitrogen displaces oxygen. The powder itself sits on
the burning material – thus removing contact between burning
material and its other two arms of fire.
The powder is a non-conductor of electricity – hence, its
equally effective on Class C fire.
Fire Fighting Strategies
Now we know all the constituents of a fire and various kinds of
fire-extinguishers. If you have to fight a fire, depending on
the circumstances, you have to decide as to what method/strategy
(i.e. which arm to fight) you would like to use. Accordingly,
you might want to choose an appropriate extinguisher.
Let’s look at some different fire-situations and the
corresponding strategies:
Smothering a fire
Say: A person’s clothing catches a fire. You could simply
wrap the person in blankets (or, any other thick piece of
clothing layer), and, roll the person on the ground. The
fire gets extinguished – due to lack of oxygen supply.
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Letting it die
Sometimes, you might just isolate the burning material from
other combustible material. The fire would simply die down,
once it has burnt the burning material – as it finds
nothing else to burn.
Fire in pantry area – say oil/ghee on fire
Simply cover the utensil which contains the burning oil
etc. Lack of oxygen supply will simply extinguish the fire.
Meanwhile, don’t forget to turn off the stove. This will
help bring down the temperature – thus, cutting off another
arm.
Class C Fire
Use of incorrect extinguishing agent (water or foam based)
on a class C fire would simply be fatal. Hence, first thing
to do would be to convert it into a Class A fire. This can
be done by turning off the electric supply. However, if you
are suspecting gas-leak also, don’t flip the switch.
Even after you have turned off the switch, one needs to
exercise caution. If the main and neutral connections are
reversed, while the switch might be turned off – the wires
would still be energized. This would provide a false sense
of security, while, the fire is still Class C. Hence, it’s
very important that at the time of construction/renovation,
electrical wirings are done/supervised by appropriately
qualified electricians. Thus, do not ever pour/direct water
jet/stream on a Class C fire (or, even where electrical
involvement is suspected). It will be fatal. If you have to
use water (only as a last resort), throw mug-full of water
from a safe distance, such that the last drop of water has
left the mug, before the first drop of water touches the
electrical line. This way, the continuity of the water
stream is broken, and, electricity cannot reach your body.
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This method is to be used only in case no other alternative
is visible, and, also, extreme caution is to be used. This
method should never be used with more than one person
simultaneously trying this method. Because, water leaving
from different mugs could together form a continuity,
thereby turning FATAL for somebody.
LPG Cylinder related fire
First and foremost, keep the cylinder standing upright. An
upright cylinder, with a fire at its mouth is not
necessarily that dangerous (though, it might appear to be
really scary). Its simply equivalent to a refinery-chimney
flaring excess gases. Cylinder on fire in a rolled-down
position/upward-down is an explosive. Stay away from it.
The regulator of LPG cylinders are not designed to handle
rolled-down cylinder. The fire can enter the cylinder
causing the pressure in its neck area – thus causing an
explosion. Fire around the base of the cylinder is also
dangerous. It can cause explosion. In order to put out a
fire at the mouth of a cylinder, pour approximately 60
litres of water in one go at the base of the fire. In very
high probability, the fire would be extinguished. Even if
the fire is out, a gas-leak could still be involved – which
is equally dangerous. Do not confuse a LPG fire and LPG
leak. These are two different things, and, both need to be
tacked individually.
Using An Extinguisher
So, now that you have decided how to fight a fire, and, what
kind of extinguishers to use, let’s see, how to use an
extinguisher. Most extinguishers are based on PASS System.
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1. “P” -> Pull the Pin on the extinguisher. This pin is kept
to prevent accidental discharge while carrying/transporting
the extinguishers.
2. “A” -> Aim the nozzle of the extinguisher at the base of
the fire. It’s very important that the discharge from the
extinguisher is directed towards the base of the fire. Most
people make the mistake of directing the extinguishing
agent on the fire itself. That’s ineffective. The
extinguishing agent should be directed at the base of the
fire – where the burning material is located. That is the
point, where the fire-triangle is established, which needs
to be broken.
3. “S” -> Squeeze the trigger, so that the extinguishing agent
starts flowing out of the cylinder, and, onto the burning
material – at the base of the fire.
4. “S” -> Swipe the nozzle sideways to coat the entire burning
material, with the extinguishing agent.
“PASS” is an acronym to remember the steps involved – Pull (the
pin), Aim (the nozzle), Squeeze (the trigger), Swipe (sideways).
Precautions While Fighting A Fire
When fighting a fire:
1. Always stay upwind: It protects you from heat, smoke etc.
It allows you to go closer to fire – thus, being able to
better direct your extinguishing agent. It protects you
from inhalation of poisonous gases, which might be given
out during the fire.
2. Keep under observation, even when the fire is extinguished.
Smoldering particles can easily rekindle, thus, catching
you off-guard.
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3. Pour extinguishing agent in adequate quantity, rather than
small quantities. Doing it in installments does not help.
One discharge of 60 liters of water is not the same as two
discharges of 30 liters each. E.g. If you have to pour 4
buckets of water, have the 4 buckets ready, and, pour all 4
buckets in one go. Instead, if you pour two buckets of
water, refill them, and, pour again – it’s not the same.
Deciding Whether To Fight The Fire Or Leave The Site
So, now that you are well equipped in fighting a fire – you just
need to decide, whether you want to fight a fire, or, flee away
from it. Remember, in general, timely action helps a lot in
containing the damage. Besides, more often than not, general
fires (especially Class A fires) don’t spread suddenly – unless,
chemical reactions are involved. This means that if you can nip
a fire in the bud, you should try to fight and extinguish it.
Still, no material is worth more than human life. So, don’t
fight, if any of the following conditions are involved:
1. You don’t have sufficient/right material to fight the fire.
The time spent in fighting could impact your ability to
evacuate
2. You don’t have backup. You should be able to get help, in
case, there is a need
3. Fire seems to be blocking your exit path
4. You have no idea what is burning For example - Class D fire
would need specialized knowledge of the metal under fire,
and, how will that metal react with different extinguishing
agents – at high temperature
5. Fire seems to be spreading too fast
6. There are explosives around
7. You don’t feel comfortable and confident
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During The Fire
So, there could be a possibility that many people are not going
to take part in fighting against a fire. These people need to
evacuate. Hence, there needs to be an evacuation plan in place.
This evacuation plan should be in place - before the incident of
fire.
The evacuation plan should have the following items identified,
and, well communicated to everybody: - A command and control
structure, which should be effective and operational as soon as
a fire is reported - Assembly area - Mechanism and
responsibility for head-count etc.
In case of a fire, one should never use escalators (irrespective
of the height of building which is being evacuated). Escalators
could be unreliable – due to failure of electrical circuits
which operate it, or, it could have mechanical failure – due to
snapping of wires/ropes – causing it to go into a free-fall. At
the minimum, there is a high risk of smoke inhalation, as, smoke
has a tendency to go up, and, hence, will always try to enter
escalator pits – from where, it can go all the way up to the
top, without any hindrance.
If there is lot of smoke, crawl on the floor. Because of smoke’s
tendency to go up, even during very dense smoke conditions, the
lower few inches of the ground are expected to be relatively
free of smoke.
To reduce smoke inhalation, put a wet handkerchief to cover your
nose. If there is no water available, use your own saliva to wet
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a small portion of the handkerchief, and, use that portion to
cover your nostrils.
If you can go to an open-area (for example uncovered terrace,
open ground etc.), there will be no risk of smoke-inhalation.
However, use your own judgment if you decide to go to the
terrace of a high-rise building. While there will be no risk of
smoke-inhalation, rescue efforts could become difficult and is
dependent on the level of sophistication that the local fire
department has (e.g. access to snorkel, very long ladders-
capable of reaching high-rise buildings, rescue-helicopters
etc.).
Always evacuate in an orderly manner. A building housing 200 or
so people (normal, healthy adults) across 3-4 floors with a
single exit can easily be evacuated in less than 2-3 minutes if
done in an orderly manner. If people push and shove, stampede
can occur, causing much more injury and, it might take much
longer to evacuate. Worse: Backing up might be impossible. Say,
while, people are evacuating towards an exit, and, it’s found
that – the specific exit is blocked, there might be a need to
backup. If the evacuation is not proceeding in an orderly
manner, it might not be possible to back-up; as people towards
the end of the evacuation queue (who are not aware of the
blockage at the exit) will try to push forward, while, those at
the front of the queue (who are aware of the blockage) want to
back-up.
Since, panic might set in, during a fire – thereby clouding
people’s thought process and ability to think reasonably, its
highly likely that during a fire, people forget these simple
tenets, and, in their attempt to rush out, actually create chaos
and disorderliness. Thus, it’s important that regular mock
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evacuation-drills are carried out. That will cause people to
behave in a much more orderly manner – during an actual fire.
While evacuating, do a quick survey to see, if there is somebody
around you, who might need some assistance, e.g. somebody who is
old, too weak, injured, child, any disability etc. If possible,
provide assistance to such a person. Even if you yourself are
not in a position to provide assistance, at least request for
help on this person’s behalf.
If an area is already clear, while, evacuating, close the door
behind you. It will serve several purposes:
1. Will isolate the area, thereby, causing an impediment to
the spread of the fire.
2. Will save time for others, who might want to recede the
area.
While, you should close the door, lock it only if you are
absolutely sure that there is nobody inside. Because, if there
was even a single person inside it, and, you have locked it, the
chances of that person being rescued is diminished by a huge
factor.
If you are inside a closed door – with fire outside:
Feel the inside of the door with your hand. If the door feels
hot, many a times, it might be safer to stay inside. At this
time, whether you should stay inside, or, still venture out
could be a judgment call, depending on: how long do you expect a
rescue team to arrive and/or alternative avenues (e.g.
possibility of jumping from the window). If you are on the high
floor of room, with windows having strong grills and the local
fire-department is not well-equipped/staffed, then, the time
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that you spend inside the room is actually going against you –
as the fire outside becomes more vigorous. If you do decide to
stay inside the room, wet towels, bed sheets etc. and put below
the doors to prevent smoke etc. from coming inside your room.
When On Road
When on road:
1. Always give way to fire-engines.
2. Even if you are not coming directly in the way of fire-
engines, go to the extreme side of the road, and, stop your
vehicle – to let the fire-engine pass.
3. Do not rubber-neck/crowd the site of a fire incident: as
you could hamper movement of rescue teams/material
If You Want To Help
If you want to help in case of a fire-incident, you could help
in one of the following ways:
1. direct help in fighting the fire (if you are able, and, are
knowledgeable in fire-fighting)
2. provide background logistics support
3. inform the local fire station
4. help in crowd-control, and, keeping the curious onlookers
at bay
5. help in directing fire engines and rescue vehicles
(particularly in the internal lanes/bylanes etc.)
6. clearing the way for fire-fighting crew
Do not put yourself and others at risk Do not question the
established chain of command. There are multiple ways of
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fighting a fire. This is not the time to argue and convince each
other on the best method.
Finally
Finally: In case of a fire:
1. DO NOT PANIC
2. Decide your strategy.
3. If you want to fight:
1. With What
2. How
3. Which arm (of the fire triangle) to fight
4. Or, you might want to flee (evacuate)
Remember, all the conditions might not be met, e.g. to stay
upwind, you might have to get away from the exit. Depending on
the circumstances, you would have to choose which conditions to
meet, and, which one to compromise.
You should know the local Fire-Station Number. Most countries
have a uniform number (valid across the whole country) to reach
the local fire-station. Do not ever make test/prank calls.
Besides, being illegal (in most countries), you might have to
live with guilt for the rest of your life – if your prank call –
caused delayed response to a real fire-emergency somewhere else.
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Structural Damage
Structural damages come under two major categories:
1. Large Scale damage to structures. These are typically
caused due to some other primary disaster -
Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Flooding, Tornadoes, Tsunamis.
These are the “real” disasters – due to the number of lives
involved.
2. Damage to individual buildings/structures. These are
relatively minor problems, and, in most cases have a high
degree of predictability.
In most major disasters, large scale damage to structure plays a
major role in causing immense sufferings and/or deaths. The
chain of events from the primary disaster to the large scale
damage could take a different path in each individual event,
but, once it reaches the stage of large scale structural damage,
everything goes haywire.
First of all - buildings and structures all around start
falling. This causes many people to get hurt – many of them
fatally – because of the impact of falling material. Or, in high
rise buildings, people themselves might fall from higher floor,
thus, getting hurt – due to the impact of fall. Buildings with
glass-facades are especially dangerous, as, glass being brittle
would tend to crack with smallest deformation of the frame. And,
worse, glass being very heavy has a very high impact on hitting
somebody. And then, glass shards have a tendency to go inside
the skin and cause damage to internal organs.
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Thus, many people die of the immediate impact of falling
buildings and/or objects.
Cars and vehicles might fall off damaged bridges – falling into
rivers and ravines. Cars in an underpass might get damaged due
to collapsing tunnels or over bridges.
Trains and trams might jump off the tracks – which get twisted.
Many road accidents take place because of roads being damaged.
Many train accidents take place.
All this causes many people to die.
And, many more people are buried under layers of debris.
Simultaneously, utility carriers start snapping. Thus, overhead
transmission wires might snap, causing electrocution. Water
lines might burst, causing water to come in contact with
electrical lines – again causing electrocution. Or, gas lines
might burst causing fire-hazard. Thus, people might die of
electrocution, fires etc.
Pipelines and chimneys in large chemical plants could develop
leaks etc. thus letting off dangerous chemicals into the
atmosphere. Depending on the toxicity of the discharged
chemicals, one might suffer irritation and/or major damage.
While, there is too much loss instantaneously, what makes the
situation worse is:
• With roads, rails, airports damaged, the total
transportation system comes to a collapse. Hence, it takes
several days for relief teams to arrive.
• With damage everywhere and, too many people who are
injured, medical facilities fall in major short-supply.
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This refers to both space in hospital, availability of
trained medical personnel, medical equipments, medicines
etc.
• With collapse of utility carriers, there is no provision –
no electricity, no water, no food.
• Communications infrastructure fails
• All these situations could last for several days.
So, even if one has survived the immediate impact, that’s not
sufficient. One has to survive totally on his/her own for at
least 3-5 days, when first batch of relief teams might start
arriving. Surviving for a few days without food or water is very
difficult for even adult, healthy human beings. And, at hand, we
would have many sick and many more injured. That’s why, the
death-toll generally rises dramatically – a few days after the
incident.
Even though, some people might survive, after about 5-7 days,
situation starts taking turn for the worst. With lack of
utilities like water, basic sanitation and hygiene conditions
are not met. This causes outbreak of epidemics, thus, causing
large-scale deaths. It is at this stage, that, mass-scale
cremation etc. is conducted.
Thus, after the deaths due to immediate impact, during the next
few days, many more people could die of:
• hunger
• cold
• epidemic
• sheer lack of medical attention
• shock and trauma
All these cause loss of too many lives.
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Thus, in such cases, for survival, one has to take following
precautions:
• Prevent any injury due to the immediate impact. This is
mostly a function of how alert you are, and, how prepared
you are – when the event occurs. Since these are not
primary events, you should generally be aware of the nature
of disaster that your area is prone to. And, you should be
able to recognize the onset of this primary event. Follow
the safety precautions for that primary event. In general,
protect yourself from falling objects.
• Having survived the immediate impact, survive on your own
for next several days. This can happen only if you are
prepared in advance. If you are well-prepared, it should be
possible to survive on your own for a few days on your own
– till the situation starts limping back to normal.
Collapse of Individual Structures
This refers to mechanical collapse of certain structures, e.g.
building, bridges etc. This causes people to get buried in the
debris. Possible presence of live beings in the debris does not
allow the use of heavy earth moving equipments, and, manual
rummaging through heavy concrete structures is very effort prone
as well as time consuming.
Usually, structural collapse does not happen suddenly. There are
signs given – which when ignored – could lead to structural
collapse. Structural collapse could happen – because:
1. old building and bridges etc. have not been given proper
care and preventive maintenance has been ignored for a long
while
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2. alterations are made to the civil structure, without
considering the load bearing capacity
If you are working/residing in a building, which does not seem
to be well-maintained, you might be at risk of getting caught
in, when the building collapses. It’s much better to get the
building repaired appropriately, before it’s too late.
If you are making renovations to your building – causing
structural changes, its best to do these under the guidance of
appropriately qualified Structural Engineers, Civil Engineers or
Architects. This will significantly reduce the chances of the
collapse. Since this kind of disaster mostly preventable (and,
has a certain degree of predictability), it should be avoided.
However, in case, one is still stuck in a situation of
collapsing structure, the primary aim should be to save oneself
from instantaneous damage. Usually, help would start arriving in
a few hours (maximum). If you have survived the immediate
impact, most probably, you might get rescued soon, and, might
get medical attention.
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Search and Rescue
The first thing before taking part in a “Search and Rescue”
operation is to make sure that you don’t put yourself also at
risk – by unnecessarily exposing yourself to a hazard.
If the “search and rescue” operation needs you to enter or go
near a structure, you should first assess the stability of the
structure. Uncontrolled movement on/around the structure could
further destabilize the structure, causing more damage to the
people who might be already trapped beneath the debris, as well
as causing damage to the rescuers and/or curious onlookers and
bystanders.
Searching inside a building
If you are going inside a building, the biggest risk is that you
might lose your way – while inside the building. At any time -
while inside the building, you should always be in a position to
be able to evacuate immediately – in case, there are some threat
perceptions (say: aftershocks of an earthquake), or, any other
instability to the structure, or, some other hazard (say: fire
etc.) One of the simplest way is: when entering a building, keep
your left hand along the wall (on your left side), and, move
only along this wall. If you have to move away from the wall,
come back immediately to the same wall – at the earliest
possible. If you encounter doors/passages along, you might enter
those doors/passages – as long as – you have your left hand
along the wall. The advantage is: If you follow this discipline
strictly, there is no way for you to get lost. In case of a
need, you can always retrace back your steps. Simply turn-
around, and, put your right hand along the wall (on your right
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side – after turning around), and, follow the wall. It is as
simple as that.
Some of the reasons, why you might have to leave the wall:
• Some obstruction (say, table etc. kept alongside the wall).
In such cases, it might be better to walk around the
obstruction, rather than walk over it.
• Some victim slightly away from the wall. Since, the aim was
to rescue the victim, you might want to leave the wall,
and, approach the victim.
This method is helpful even for conducting searches in dark-
buildings. However, dark buildings could create other potential
hazards. Hence, if you have to enter a dark building, you should
take with you flashlights and torches – because, there might be
other potential hazards, which you might not be able to see.
The above approach does not guarantee that you will cover each
and every portion of the building. The amount of portion covered
would depend on the layout of the building, its doors etc.
However, it provides 100% assurance that you wont get lost.
Whenever you enter a building to conduct a search/rescue
operation, always ensure that there are people outside who are
aware of the fact that you have gone inside the building. While
some members of the search team are gone inside the building,
some other members should stay outside – but – in communication
with the members who have gone inside.
Searching for people trapped under debris
This should be done very carefully. This presents two dimensions
of danger. As you move debris, you could be changing the balance
of the debris, and, thereby – further destabilizing whatever
structure exists. Before you start to move large pieces of rocks
and debris, make an attempt to listen below debris and catch any
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sign of movement, or, somebody’s response. Always call-out for
somebody having been trapped below the debris. The response
could be in terms of a voice from the trapped person – or, some
taps by the victim. Even if there is no response, it should
*not* be assumed that there is nobody below. The trapped person
could be unconscious, or, might be too feeble to respond.
This means, while removing debris from one place, the removed
debris should not be put on top of another pile of debris –
which is not guaranteed to be clear of any trapped person.
Otherwise, somebody trapped below this “other pile” could be
getting further trapped. This also means that the rescue
operations should always be conducted from outside towards
inside – unless, it is known for certain that the inner portion
of the debris contains some victims – in which case, we might
attend to the inner portion immediately.
While removing debris, one should continuously try to assess, if
there is a victim below. It’s possible that a victim who was not
able to hear you can now hear you – as some layers of debris
have been removed. Once you know that there is a victim, and,
that person has given an indication that he/she can hear you,
continue to always convey messages of encouragement and
reassurance that the relief team is on its way. This will
provide an immense psychological boost to the victim.
When conducting relief operations in debris, the entire efforts
should be coordinated. If several teams are working without any
coordination, the various teams could come in each other’s way –
as well as cause imbalance to the structure, causing it to
further fall, and, this time, it could take the rescue personnel
down. Also, some simple safety precautions should be taken.
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1. At any instant, no part of your body should be below any
heavy object. Suppose, you have to lift a heavy object. As
soon as it’s lifted slightly above the ground, put some
piece of brick, wooden log, rock etc. directly below the
object. The idea is: If for some reason, the object slips
through or falls, your hand/legs should have a good
clearing from the ground. Use some sturdy stick/pole etc.
to place/move bricks/logs etc. below the object being
lifted, rather than putting your own hand/leg below the
object.
2. Lifting: If you have to lift a heavy object, don’t bend
your body around waist. It could cause back-pain. The right
way is to bend your knees, while, keeping your back
straight. Hold the object firmly, and, now, straighten your
legs/knee.
3. Instead of using your force, use the concept of levers to
lift heavy objects. A lever is a sturdy pole. Place one end
of this pole below the object to be lifted. Place some
strong, solid piece of material below this pole, not very
far (say: at approximately 1/3rd the total length of the
pole – from the object to be lifted). Go to the other end
of the pole. Now, you can pull the other end down, and, the
object would get lifted. The effort that you would require
to lift would be too less, compared to the object being
lifted. The other advantage is: your limbs are nowhere
directly below the object being lifted.
One of the concerns could be: when there is so much
destruction all-around, where would we get such
sophisticated tools. Well, the tools would be found in the
debris itself.
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4. Don’t forget to wear gloves, when you are dealing with
debris, and, a pair of good shoes. There might be glass-
shards, sharp edges, and, what not.
Triage The concept of “triage” was introduced by French
military, and, it translates into: “sort”ing.
During a disaster, there might be too many people who need
medical attention – and, medical facilities would be in severe
short-supply. Hence, its important to sort out the victims in
terms of:
• who needs immediate medical treatment
• for whom can the treatment be delayed
• who need not be given any treatment
The last category includes people, who don’t need medical
treatment, because they are not much hurt, or, people who are
already dead. This last category also includes people, who need
not be given any treatment, because their chances of survival
are very remote. For all practical purposes, these people might
be treated as “dead”. The logic here is: instead of tying up
medical facilities for this person – who has almost no sign of
survival, the same facility might be extended to somebody – who
has a much better chance of surviving.
Thus, as part of “triage”, it’s highly possible that a person
who is actually alive might be classified as “dead”. Needless to
say, this experience could provide quite traumatic for the
person conducting the categorization. It is not easy to classify
a living person as “dead”, and, be aware that this
classification/judgment would deny him any chance of survival.
However, the right context to look at is: by not tying up the
medical resources for this one person, you are actually
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providing the chance of treatment and survival to some more
people. Otherwise, an attempt to get medical treatment to this
person – could result in denial of timely treatment to another
person, who had a much better chances of survival, while, this
person anyways does not survive.
Sometimes, a person in very heavy pain could be crying the
loudest, but, that does not mean he/she needs immediate
treatment. His/her treatment could be delayed – without any risk
of his/her life. e.g. a fractured arm etc. While, this person
could be in immense pain, his treatment can wait. His sight
could also evoke immense sympathy – but, once again, this is a
case where, the volunteer has to exercise his/her mind
judiciously.
The people who might need immediate treatment are:
• those who are losing blood
• those who seem to be in a state of delirium
• those who are showing weakness of vital signs
Sometimes, a person might be unconscious. In the absence of any
medical instrument, and, lack of adequately trained medical
staff, it might be difficult to judge the strength of vital
signs. A good indication in such situations could be: Pinch and
hold one of the fingers between your thumb and index finger for
2-3 seconds. Now, leave his/her finger. Observe, how long does
it take for that particular place to turn back to normal
(pinkish) colour. If it takes longer to turn back into the
normal colour, his/her vital signs are not very good.
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Seeking Help
USA: 911
India: Police: 100; Fire Brigade: 101; Ambulance: 102
Singapore: Police 999; Fire Brigade: 995; Ambulance: 995
About disastermgmt.org
disastermgmt.org has been prepared by Sanjay Churiwala and
Naveen Gabrani. Sanjay is an Electronics Engineer, involved in
R&D activities in an EDA company, and, who has studied Disaster
Management as a personal interest. Naveen is a dot com
entrepreneur.
Although all effort has been made to make the information
provided correct, disastermgmt.org is not responsible for any
mistakes. The site will not be responsible for any damage caused
due to the advice offered.
If you think, certain information is missing from this site,
and, would like to contribute, we would be happy to hear from
you, as well as give credits to you for any material that you
provide to make this site more useful for the general population
of the world.
Comments and suggestions are also welcome, at "ngabrani at
hotmail dot com" if you think, certain portions of this site can
be better explained/presented.