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Life by a Thousand Bandages
Undoubtedly you may have heard of the phrase “Death by a Thousand Cuts” — meaning it’s the little, tiny problems that add together to make an insurmountable disaster. I believe there is an antithesis to this as well — there can be “life by a thousand bandages” — meaning it’s the smaller (i.e., local) Emergency Management Solutions that when added together can solve the adverse impacts to people from any level or type disaster.
Bandages are designed as a Preparedness and Response tool (supplies or equipment) to help Mitigate against infection. They Protect life safety, Prevent against other hazards, and help Recover from the injury. Everyone should have a first aid kit (or access to one) for life’s little mishaps. And a plan as to when to use the first aid kit, keep it replenished, etc. Plus, everyone should be trained on how to perform first aid on themselves, their family, and potentially others. And they should practice putting all these elements together. Those are the same elemental features for problem-solving we use in Emergency Management. Without really knowing it, people are (mostly) following the POETE process: Planning, Organization (people), Equipment (and supplies), Training, and Exercising.
Now chances are, individuals and families are not so much practicing first aid or necessarily checking their stock of bandages and other first aid supplies ahead of needing them — but they can — and we as emergency managers can and should encourage them to do so, too. Emergency Managers can promote this every month, not just National Preparedness Month in the United States, in September each year. We incorporate the concept of including a first aid kit in people’s overall “go bags” and “stay boxes” now, and we can certainly encourage them to be checked regularly as well. Practicing first aid can become a family event (i.e., parents with their kids and pets, kids with their dolls and toys) — just as practicing sheltering-in-place and evacuation drills can be, as well.
When families can solve these level adverse impacts from disasters themselves, it reduces their reliance on local and other governmental and non-governmental officials (and responders) to assist them. These families will become more disaster resilient. One should not go to the hospital emergency room when they just need a bandage (and of course, people should…
