Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness

Life is unfortunately filled with potential emergencies, and offices should be prepared with an emergency plan, including a trained emergency response team.  Offering some employees free first aid classes and CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), forming an emergency response team, and offering first aid tools could save one or many lives in an emergency situation.

First Aid Classes and CPR Classes

Receiving instruction in first aid and CPR can make your workplace safer.  CPR knowledge is able to save countless lives every year, and general first aid knowledge can help an employee stabilize an individual until a first response team can arrive.  Offering both classes to select employees will assist them in situations such as:

• Heart attacks
• Choking
• Injuries
• Catastrophic emergency assistance

Although training employees in first aid and CPR will not qualify them to perform further medical procedures, in a catastrophic emergency, employees with general first aid knowledge can assist medical emergency technicians in bandaging minor injuries and setting up triage (the order by severity of injuries in which people will be treated).

Forming a Workplace Medical Emergency Response Team

Medical emergencies can be either far-flung catastrophes or localized within your company.  To develop a medical emergency response team that can assist in both situations, consider the following:

• Establish a leader in charge of setting up training, tracking re-certification, and giving orders in a far-flung emergency.  The leader should be familiar with triage principals and be able to communicate with medical technicians and doctors if they are unable to enter the building or area.  The leader should then be able to communicate medical orders to members of the team.
• An emergency team member should be established on each floor or area to respond as quickly as possible to the situation.
• Non-team member employees should be trained in all aspects of emergency evacuation and the emergency calling tree.

Preparing First Aid Kits

Setting up an area on each floor in which first aid tools may be kept will assist your medical emergency response team in responding as quickly as possible.  Some items you may wish to stock in the first aid area include:

• Automated external defibrillator (AED)
• Eye wash system
• Bandages and gauze
• Simple medicines like Asprin, Bayer, Tylenol, and antibiotic ointments
• Splints, butterfly closures, and Q-tips
• Antibiotic towelettes and alcohol prep pads

A simple first aid kit is usually sufficient for most offices and most emergencies.  As the medical technicians arrive at more catastrophic emergencies, they will bring additional supplies.

Overall, if your business prepares for the worst emergencies, you will most likely save the most people possible in a catastrophic event.   Forming a fully trained medical emergency response team and providing first aid kits will help your employees be prepared for responding quickly to an individual or to a catastrophe.