Emergency Response
Emergency response follows a simple priority order: preserve life, prevent escalation, protect property, preserve evidence. The first actions on discovering an emergency are to raise the alarm, call the appropriate emergency service, and begin safe evacuation or containment as your site instructions require. Know your role in the emergency plan: are you evacuating, directing, checking, or meeting the fire service?
Different emergencies call for different responses. Fire: alarm, evacuate, do not use lifts, close doors, go to the assembly point. Medical: call for help, do not move a casualty unless in danger, keep them comfortable, and hand over to paramedics. Bomb threat: stay calm, note exact wording, time, and background noise, do not use radios near a suspected device, and follow the search/evacuation plan. Intruder or violence: do not confront armed or aggressive persons; withdraw, observe, and call police. Power failure or flood: secure areas, protect people from hazards, and follow the site plan.
Traps: candidates run toward danger, use lifts during fire evacuation, move injured people unnecessarily, or forget to account for visitors and contractors at the assembly point. Another trap is assuming someone else has called emergency services - confirm it.
Rule of thumb: Alarm, call, evacuate, account - in that order, and never become a casualty yourself.
Worked example: Smoke is seen in a corridor. Raise the alarm, call emergency services or confirm the call, begin evacuation by the nearest safe route, close doors behind you, do not use lifts, and report to the assembly point for roll call including visitors.