Time to make disaster response training mandatory?
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) has 13,336 trained, skilled and active RCY volunteers under 68 units of BDRCS. Experts feel the training should be made mandatory for people living in areas vulnerable to disasters
On a busy February noon, after the Mir Hazirbagh Adarsha School students in Jatrabari had finished their studies for the day, 75 local people (mostly youngsters) took over three classrooms.
One of them, a local college student named Ashiq, rose from a bench and lay flat on a floor mat to act like an unresponsive and wounded man, as instructed.
Tarun Kanti Saha, Deputy Director (Training Department) of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), then demonstrated on him how a disaster response volunteer can 'read' and understand the disaster-hit scene, and recognise and respond to an unresponsive person who may have fallen unconscious due to blocked airways or troubled breathing.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Following his theoretical class, Tarun explained how the volunteers should apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures (unblocking the breathing channels), inspect bleeding and other severe injuries, manually adjust the person's body position to stop further damage and finally call '999' – the emergency helpline for an ambulance.
Tarun loudly warned, "Never think you are a physician. You are only giving life-saving first aid."
According to BDRCS officials, the main objectives of disaster response is to stop further damage to a victim, to improve the condition of the wounded and to bring the victims to health facilities as soon as possible.
For the next two days, the participants assembled at the school to learn about a crucial life-saving approach that they can apply while standing by their family members, friends and neighbours in times of disaster.
With direct support from BDRCS, they learnt how to use search and rescue equipment, personal protective equipment, emergency rescue methods, knots, lacing, making improvised ladders and stretchers; how to conduct rescue from high-rise buildings or structures, how to conduct a rescue of trapped people under boulders or collapsed structures and rescue people from drowning; and procedures for psychosocial support to the victims.
They were given basic training on early warning and evacuation. At the same time, they learnt about the concept and cause of earthquakes, potential impact, preparedness for reducing impact, contingency plan and others.
Mohammad Ismail, a member of the Mir Hazirbagh Adarsha School Management Committee, was inspecting the training arrangement. He said this particular locality, Mir Hazirbagh, is overcrowded and a smooth response to any disaster will be hampered because of its narrow alleys.
He fears that disasters like infernos, water-logging, pandemics, mosquito menace and the worst, earthquakes, can happen in this overpopulated locality, and many people may suffer from severe damage.
"If the youth, the most energetic group of the community, come first and engage in disaster risk reduction, the intensity of damage, including casualties, will be minimised," Ismail said.
He added that their particular community disaster response team already has some equipment like stretchers, sirens and first aid tools.
Fatema Akter and Mohammad Imran Mridha were among the Red Crescent Youth (RCY) volunteers who were assisting the trainers.
Fatema, a student of Tolaram Government College, lives in Jatrabari. Two years ago, she participated in disaster preparedness training conducted by BDRCS. She gathered skills in several training sessions that happened later. Currently, she has seven more companions (RCYs) in her locality.
Imran, an HSC-passed student, has joined similar training sessions for the last three years. Around his locality at Gendaria, there are around 10 RCY volunteers.
When asked about how they feel being trained disaster volunteers, the duo echoed, "We feel confident that we can respond as an auxiliary force (of fire safety and civil defence personnel) to any disaster situation."
So far, Fatema and Imran haven't faced any severe disasters in their localities. But they were deployed at community health facilities under the mass vaccination programme related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Constituted in March 1973, BDRCS started community-level disaster preparedness training in 1975. At present, the national-level organisation has 13,336 trained, skilled and active RCY volunteers under 68 units of BDRCS.
Additionally, there are approximately eight lakh institutional volunteers and around 76,000 cyclone preparedness volunteers who are actively involved in Red Crescent activities throughout the country.
Some of the volunteers are also members of the National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) and support BDRCS in emergency operations.
The contributions of BDRCS volunteers in times of the cyclones Sidr and Aila, the Nimtali inferno, the Rana Plaza collapse, flash floods and other disasters have been noteworthy.
Ekram Elahi Chowdhury, Director of BDRCS's training department, believes that after getting hands-on training, the participants become motivated and skilled.
"They can enrich their knowledge about disaster risk reduction. If they build themselves as skilled disaster responders, their credibility as volunteers grows among the community," Ekram said.
BDRCS officials often say that once a RC volunteer, always a volunteer.
If adopted by communities on a larger scale, training on disaster preparedness helps reduce the risk of calamities while minimising potential casualties.
But BDRCS lacks the necessary resources to prepare disaster-prone communities in the shortest time possible.
Officials at the training department said oftentimes enthusiastic volunteers come in self-motivated. They tend to show their commitment and dedication. But when BDRCS proactively reaches disaster-prone communities, they find less interested people.
Most of the time, the people of the community expect short-term benefits like tips, travel and food allowance from the training providers. Furthermore, they want a rapid completion of the training sessions.
To boost enthusiasm among the young people, Ekram hinted, "We are developing a mobile application so that users get visual tutorials on first aid and disaster response."
Disaster expert and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Professionals Dr Khondoker Mokaddem Hossain said that training on disaster response can teach people about the 'scientific reasoning' of a disaster, as well as the link to the science-based response procedures.
"Potential victims of a disaster hardly usually do not realise their vulnerability. And their lack of awareness hampers necessary preparation for the calamities and increases the risk of damages," said Khondoker, a former teacher at the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies under Dhaka University.
He continued, saying that training can make a voluntary responder skilled in awareness building.
"Several regions in the country appear vulnerable to earthquakes and other disasters. Disaster response training must be made mandatory for the communities living there," Khondoker concluded.
