Nobody can predict when exactly an emergency might happen, but you can make sure you’re prepared for whenever the day comes when you will need to deal with an incident. Here are some of the ways you can make sure you are as prepared as possible for an emergency, whether that be at work, at home or on the move.
Get the gear
When it comes to preparing to deal with any emergency, one of the best uses of your time is to prepare an appropriate first aid kit. Consider where you are preparing this first aid kit for. For example, if you’re preparing your first kit aid for a restaurant’s kitchen, you’ll want to be prepared for the most common accidents that can occur in a kitchen. As your team are more likely to suffer cuts from sharp knives or burns from hot trays, make sure your kit includes lots of plasters and burn cream to deal with any of these incidents. If you work in a venue where people are more active, like an ice-skating rink or a ski slope, you’ll want a more advanced first aid kit with things like braces and slings to deal with possible strained muscles or broken bones.
Once you’ve prepared your kit, make sure everybody knows where they can find the equipment they’ll need in case of emergency. Choose something that can’t be moved, like first aid cabinets, rather than an unlabelled box that could be moved around or lost under other objects or paperwork. Regularly check the contents of your kit. If something has been used, make sure it is replaced as soon as possible so it can be just as useful for anybody else who has an accident in the future.
Get trained up
For some minor injuries, like a small cut, it could be just enough to put a plaster on the affected area. For other injuries, it could be harder to know exactly what you should do to relieve the pain the person you’re treating is in. That’s why first aid training is also very important when it comes to preparing for any incident. Something that you might instinctively think to do when an accident happens, like help somebody off the floor when they have fallen over, might actually cause them further injury or put them in more danger. If you work with a group of people, make sure at least one person on every shift receives first aid training, and that the rest of the group knows who to contact for help if an accident was to occur.
Remember your meeting point
Some emergencies, like a fire or a gas leak, will require you to evacuate any building that you’re in. You might think this would be as easy as a fire alarm going off and telling people to get out, but it’s important that everyone knows exactly where they should go if told to evacuate. Make sure you have a clear emergency meeting point that is a safe distance away from the building where everybody can gather.
This way you are able to check that everybody is safely out of the building and communicate any other emergency information to them.
