Emergency Personnel

[Seshat]

If you were making a list of who 'emergency personnel' were, for the purpose of who can/should travel in severe weather; who would you include?

Topic inspired by You ARE Emergency Personnel.


Here's my list:

Hospitals, naturally. Enough staff to support the patients without burning anyone out; and ideally, the staff stay put at the hospital until the emergency is over.
Nursing homes and other places that care for those unable to care for themselves. See above for conditions.

Police, Fire, Ambulance.
A small cadre of electricians, plumbers, and other such folk who have been trained to drive in such conditions and have suitable vehicles, and who can do things like turn off electricity to a burning building so the firefighters can access it safely.
I included 'plumbers and other such folk' because I'm sure there's important things I'm unaware of but which are inherently similar and equally urgent.

Meteorologists who specialise in monitoring this type of weather; who provide the emergency information. Potentially also meteorologists who study such weather.
Equally: the people who broadcast emergency information. A skeleton crew, but enough that noone's burned out for the duration of the emergency.

People whose job it is to minimise the effects of the weather: eg, snowplough drivers, emergency recovery teams. Not to travel IN the weather; but to be ready to act once it's safe.

In my personal idealised world: a cadre of trained personnel with weather-resistant transport vehicles, to move these assorted people safely to where they need to be.

If the emergency continues for long enough: people to do welfare checks; ensuring that noone is too low on food, drinking water, medicine, heat/cooling, etc. And people to run shelters for those who are, and to move folks to shelters. The staff for this can be drawn from the emergency recovery teams I mentioned earlier.

[fireheart17]

I think the SES and/or CFS do some of this already Seshat.

SES=State Emergency Services. Basically a group of trained volunteers who handle natural disasters and otherwise assist the police/fire/ambos. The list that I found on the SA website for the SES lists their roles as:

-Natural Disaster stuff (naturally)
-Road Crash Rescue (they're first response to major prangs or country prangs)
-Land searches (they assist the police) this also includes using bikes and horses.
-Search and Rescue operations (land, sea and urban (building crash for instance))
-Education about emergency plans/management (what to do in flood/fire etc.)
-Air rescue
-Flood rescues
-Vertical rescue (that is, people who've fallen down a cliff)

Nearly all companies have a clause in their workplace agreements that give employees time off if they are members of the SES.

Oh and the training is held every week.

[Seshat]

I have a friend who's in the SES. Don't actually know much about what he does, but yes, his employer gives him time off.

[lordlundar]

My issue isn't specifically who is defined as Essential Emergency personnel, but who gets to determine it. A number of areas are allowing business to decide and that means several people who have no reason to be out there are labelled as such for no other reason than to boost company profits.

[Greenday]

What about people who work for retirement homes? A lot of seniors can't feed and take care of themselves.

[s_stabeler]

I wouldn't think so as such- mos residential homes have 24/7 staff, so you could probably let the staff that are trapped at work handle the patients.

I think there needs to be a penalty, though, for designating somebody an Essential Emergency Worker when they aren't. Maybe require, without reference to company profits, an explanation of a) why the place of employment needs to remain open during an emergency AND b) why this employee is necessary. If both conditions aren't met, then the worker would be defined as NOT being an essential emergency worker, and cannot be fired for not coming in during an emergency,

[Greenday]

I wouldn't think so as such- mos residential homes have 24/7 staff, so you could probably let the staff that are trapped at work handle the patients.

I think there needs to be a penalty, though, for designating somebody an Essential Emergency Worker when they aren't. Maybe require, without reference to company profits, an explanation of a) why the place of employment needs to remain open during an emergency AND b) why this employee is necessary. If both conditions aren't met, then the worker would be defined as NOT being an essential emergency worker, and cannot be fired for not coming in during an emergency,

What happens if it's at night? No cooks would be on staff. Most of maintenance wouldn't be there. Most of the nursing staff wouldn't be there. Etc. etc.

During Hurricane Sandy, the power blew at the senior living home I was working at and the generator was destroyed. That's 12 floors of seniors and only one of those require 24/7 nursing care. The amount of staff it took to deal with everything was a lot of people. Making sure they had whatever they needed since so many people couldn't walk up and down stairs. Carrying meals up to them. Etc. etc.

[Panacea]

What happens if it's at night? No cooks would be on staff. Most of maintenance wouldn't be there. Most of the nursing staff wouldn't be there. Etc. etc.

During Hurricane Sandy, the power blew at the senior living home I was working at and the generator was destroyed. That's 12 floors of seniors and only one of those require 24/7 nursing care. The amount of staff it took to deal with everything was a lot of people. Making sure they had whatever they needed since so many people couldn't walk up and down stairs. Carrying meals up to them. Etc. etc.

In cases like that you make do and do the bare minimum.

As a nurse I've been trapped in the hospital during blizzards. We didn't do bed baths or linen changes on all beds like we normally did, we did the bare minimum on meds and treatments, and focused on feeding and dealing with emergency problems. We slept for a few hours in shifts (I was stuck there for 36 hours).

Generally hospital staff are expected to report for work but if they don't feel safe driving then designated drivers will pick them up. I've had that happen several times. The only time nurses were ever let off the hook where I lived was when Hurricane Gloria hit the Eastern Shore of Maryland and severe flooding washed out roads.

When I lived in North Dakota, if the highway patrol shut down the highways and they caught you on them, you went to jail. It was a crime to be on the roads in some weather conditions, no matter who you were.

[Seshat]

What about people who work for retirement homes? A lot of seniors can't feed and take care of themselves.

Here's my list:

Hospitals, naturally. Enough staff to support the patients without burning anyone out; and ideally, the staff stay put at the hospital until the emergency is over.
Nursing homes and other places that care for those unable to care for themselves. See above for conditions.

"places that care for those unable to care for themselves" was the second item on my list. If you can't feed yourself and manage at least sufficient hygeine to not get injured, I could assume you to be 'unable to care for yourself'.


Panacea, I like that.

Specially trained/equipped designated drivers to pick up essential personnel, and if you're on the road and not on the list, it's a crime. I really like that - it makes a lot of safety-sense.

[Andara Bledin]

It was a crime to be on the roads in some weather conditions, no matter who you were.

As it should be.

Unless you've got some incredibly extraordinary circumstances, nobody should have to end up rescuing your ass because you thought you were more special and capable of getting around than you really are.

[lordlundar]

As it should be.

Unless you've got some incredibly extraordinary circumstances, nobody should have to end up rescuing your ass because you thought you were more special and capable of getting around than you really are.

While I fully agree, it's becoming less "entitled driver" and more "boss who isn't dealing with this shit threatened me".

[HYHYBT]

Maybe require, without reference to company profits, an explanation of a) why the place of employment needs to remain open during an emergency AND b) why this employee is necessary. If both conditions aren't met, then the worker would be defined as NOT being an essential emergency worker, and cannot be fired for not coming in during an emergency,

I like that... except that there are situations where an employee is necessary even if the business is closed.

[Jester]

Am I the only one thinking "liquor delivery driver"?

[Seshat]

I like that... except that there are situations where an employee is necessary even if the business is closed.

I have a friend who's a security guard at a symphony orchestra. If you just glance at the situation, he looks like a glorified receptionist.

But look at the price and value of professional-grade symphonic instruments; then think about the fact that most of the musicians have two or three; and think about how many musicians it takes to make up an orchestra........


But then you come face to face with a question. Is a Stradivarius violin worth risking a human life? A Monet painting? An incredibly rare fossil? How about a collection? Should the Smithsonian be abandoned by security guards in a state of emergency? If not, how about the Guggenheim? The Carnegie Hall instrument storerooms?
How far down do you go? Do you protect the Smithsonian but not the Indiana State Museum? If you protect the Indiana State Museum, how about a city museum for one of Indiana's larger cities? Smaller cities?


Me, I'd have whichever guards were on duty when the weather became serious stay put, and rotate guard duty so there's always someone awake and on duty (and the others sleeping, playing cards, making food). Whoever wasn't there, stays home. That way noone's on the road risking their lives, but there's someone at the site who can alert the emergency services in case of fire, attempted theft, whatever.




OH! I just thought of another class of building which MUST have staff at all times. Most types of power generator, most oil rigs, probably sewerage treatment plants and places that clean water into drinking water. Quite probably an awful lot of chemical factories too.

[s_stabeler]

I like that... except that there are situations where an employee is necessary even if the business is closed.

OK, IF the employee's presence can be justified without reference to company profits.

Oil rigs can be evacuated more or less without a problem- you simply cannot pump oil out without a crew there. Sewage treatment or water filtration- you have a point.