Emergency response guide experience sample essay

All publicly released emergency response guidelines are essentially the lowest operating bottom line for everyone. When it comes to the disposal site, the problem can never be solved by memorizing the provisions. The core depends on the combination of "the muscle memory of thoroughly studying the guidelines beforehand, the courage to make decisions based on the on-site situation during the incident, and the closed-loop review of the details of the guide afterwards." If you go to extremes and either operate indiscriminately or memorize the provisions, you will easily get into greater trouble.

Last month, there was a gas leak in the restaurant street under my jurisdiction. When I rushed there with two team members, the newcomer who had just passed the emergency response certificate was squatting at the door of the store, flipping through the printed guide. The pages were wrinkled with sweat, and he was muttering, "The guide says that the first step is to cut off the power supply in the area. I will look for the meter box first." The veteran team member who had been with me for almost two years didn't say anything. He turned around and put out the open flames of three skewer stalls along the street. Then he dragged the shop owner to open the front and rear doors of the leaking shop for ventilation. By the time I found the property and turned on the switch, the concentration of combustible gas on site had dropped by half. Afterwards, the new employee muttered that we didn't follow the procedures and who would be responsible if something happened. I didn't rush to refute him - when I first took up the job, I also regarded the guide as an edict and didn't dare to change a word.

Oh, by the way, I didn’t know until I participated in the emergency training of the provincial department that the industry has always had two completely different views on whether the guidelines should be strictly implemented. Academic researchers insist that SOPs must be followed 100%. After all, every item in the guideline is based on lessons learned from past accidents. The level of front-line personnel is uneven, which gives room for ad hoc decisions, which can easily lead to secondary disasters. Previously, when dealing with a small leakage of hazardous chemicals in a southwest location, the operator privately skipped the "static test" step and went directly to close the valve, which eventually caused a deflagration and led to a larger accident. However, most of the veteran emergency responders who are on the front line believe that 10% of the flexibility space must be left for the first responders on the scene, especially for small and medium-sized initial incidents. The prime response time is only the first 30 seconds. By the time you finish reading the guide to find the right steps, the small fire has burned into a big fire. There is actually nothing wrong with either statement, but it depends on the specific scenario: if you encounter an accident of the level of an earthquake or a large-scale hazardous chemical leak, strictly following the guidelines will save your life. But if it is a common minor accident such as a store fire or a small gas leak, there is really no need to be obsessed with the order of steps.

The Ministry of Emergency Management issued a statistics in 2023, saying that 87% of the deviations in the handling of small and medium-sized emergency incidents are due to two types of problems: either the parties involved operate blindly without reading the guidelines at all, or they are too obsessive about the guidelines and miss the best disposal window. Don't tell me, I myself fell into the latter trap: the basement of the old community in my jurisdiction flooded the summer before last. I followed the guideline to "cut off the power first and then pump out the water." It took almost 10 minutes to find the property management and turn on the power switch. When I went in, several boxes of pesticides piled in the corner had already swollen. In the end, it took three times more time to deal with the pollution. Later I found out that the switch in the basement had already tripped due to a short circuit. I didn't dare to touch the wires first to see if there was power, which wasted time.

It’s interesting to say that I carry two pages of wrinkled paper in my pocket all year round. It’s not a complete emergency guide printed by my employer, but a “first three-step operation list” compiled by me for more than a dozen common scenarios: for gas leaks, close valves, open windows, and clear fire; for circuit fires, close the switch, cover mouth and nose, and evacuate surrounding people; for heavy rain and waterlogging, seal roads, move vehicles, and check underground spaces. When I actually arrived at the scene, my mind was confused for the first 30 seconds. I had no time to think about what was written at the end of the guide. If I did the three core steps first, there would basically be no major problems.

A while ago, the community was doing emergency training, and an aunt who ran a supermarket asked me if memorizing all the guidelines would help her avoid having to worry about accidents. I gave her an example: The guidelines are like a question bank for a driver's license test. Just because you have memorized them all doesn't mean you can dodge an electric car that suddenly jumps out on the road. Last time there was a fire in the electrical wiring in her supermarket, she opened the switch and extinguished the fire according to the training content. She did a very good job, but she did not dare to turn on the exhaust fan because she was afraid of another short circuit. As a result, the smoke choked two customers. Afterwards, she looked through the guide and saw that it clearly stated "After a power outage, ventilation and smoke exhaust can be carried out according to the on-site conditions." She was so panicked at the time that she only remembered the first half of the requirements.

The longer I work in this business, the less I dare to say that I have learned the guide thoroughly. Every time I read the guide after completing a mission, I can always find areas where I did not do it well at the time. After all, this thing is never a question bank for exams, it is a safety rope to give you the bottom line. If you really want to climb steadily and walk fast, you have to go to the scene a few more times and review the mistakes several times before you can turn the words printed on the paper into a reaction engraved in your mind.