Summary of experience and experience in emergency response guide

The value of all general emergency response guides has never been "just follow the rules and you won't make mistakes." The core is to help you establish an emergency thinking of "leaving redundancy, understanding flexibility, and prioritizing." Moreover, there is no set of universal templates that can be directly applied to your work scenario, and localized adjustments must be made to be useful.

When I first joined the company, I really regarded the guide as Shang Fang's sword. I knew every process by heart until I encountered a minor pitfall during a blizzard at the beginning of last year. At that time, according to the snow clearing and anti-freezing guidelines issued by the district, "the main roads must be cleared of snow within 2 hours after the snow stops." However, the main roads in the old city under our jurisdiction are all old residential buildings built in the 1980s. During the inspection, we found that the iron awnings built by residents on the first floor of several buildings had been deformed by the weight of snow, and most of the drainage outlets in front of the buildings were blocked by snow. If it were not delayed for another half hour, it might collapse and hit someone. I gritted my teeth and dispatched half of the snow clearing crew to clear the snow on the awnings and drains first, and then went back to clear the main roads after finishing their work. I was 40 minutes later than the prescribed time. I was originally afraid of being held accountable. However, in the afternoon of the same day, the district reported that an awning collapsed on other streets and injured passers-by. In our district, there was no loss of private property. In the end, the leader even praised me for "knowing how to adapt."

In fact, there have been arguments in two directions in the emergency circle, and no one can convince anyone. One group is the standardization group. Most of them are experts on emergency response systems in universities and staff of higher-level regulatory departments. They feel that every step of the process must be blocked and all operations must leave traces. No steps can be skipped even if the efficiency is low. After all, all common processes are learned from countless accidents. If something goes wrong if they are changed casually, no one can bear the responsibility. The other group is those of us who are practicing at the grassroots level. We feel that the situation at the grassroots level is all kinds of strange, and there are many scenarios that are not covered by the guide. When we are on the scene of a huge emergency, how can we have time to look through the manual to find the corresponding provisions? As long as the core bottom line of "no deaths, fewer injuries, and less property losses" is adhered to, the process should be skipped. When I participated in the provincial emergency training last year, two groups of people argued at the seminar for half an hour but could not reach a conclusion. My own experience was that during training, you must strictly follow the process and engrave the steps into your muscle memory. When you actually go to the scene, don't be tied up by the process.

What impressed me the most was the gas leak warning in the old restaurant building facing the street last summer. The gas concentration measured by the portable detector at that time had reached 22% of the LEL (lower explosion limit). According to the general guidelines, the first step should be to cut off the power and gas source of the entire building. However, the electric switch of the old building is in the door hole of the building. The moment you reach out to pull the switch, there may be an electric spark and an explosion. The veteran safety officer who followed me to the scene didn't even think twice before he called for people to put up a 50-meter cordon around the area, and asked all onlookers to turn off their cell phones and stop smoking. He first pried open all the doors and windows facing the street for ventilation, and then cut off the electricity and gas when the concentration dropped below the safety threshold. He didn't follow the order of the guide throughout the process, and nothing happened in the end. When reviewing the situation afterwards, people from the standardization camp also mentioned, what if a passerby happened to throw a cigarette butt when the window was opened? But we later calculated the probabilities. In that situation, the probability of triggering an explosion by pulling the switch was at least 30%, and the probability of encountering someone throwing a cigarette butt was less than 1%. It was clear at a glance how to choose.

The emergency guide now used by our community has added 3 pages of "Remarks on Local Special Situations" to the general version, including which buildings house elderly people with limited mobility who live alone, which road sections have manhole covers that get clogged when heavy rains occur, and which restaurants have gas pipes. When it comes to replacement, even the telephone number of the person in charge of the surrounding supermarkets and pharmacies and the key storage location of the backup evacuation point are clearly written. These contents are not mentioned even a word in the general guide, but when something really happens, it will be more effective than you memorizing 10 procedures.

Many people think that the emergency guide is for newcomers. In fact, I read it every time after handling an accident to find out what I can do better. Last time there was waterlogging in heavy rains, we evacuated residents to the community activity room according to the guidelines. However, we forgot that the window on the north side of the activity room was leaking, and several elderly people's coats got wet. Later, I changed the list of alternative evacuation points. I informed the owners of nearby pharmacies and supermarkets in advance, added their second floor to the list, and left a spare key. These are all practical experiences accumulated slowly. How can a general guideline be comprehensive?

Finally, let me be honest, in the emergency industry, don’t expect a guide to ensure everything is safe. It is like a navigation system for driving. It can help you avoid detours when you take regular roads. But in special circumstances such as road construction and traffic jams, you can’t just follow the navigation guide and drive into a ditch, right? Usually, it is more useful to go to the area you are responsible for twice more and revise the guide in your hand more than memorizing 10 sets of general templates.