Alerting the population about emergencies is a necessary safety measure, which allows protecting residents of any settlement from the negative consequences of any accident or destructive effects caused by various factors.
Such a scheme for protecting citizens is crucial to ensure security.
What you should understand by notification
This definition is used to describe a set of measures that can warn residents in advance about possible emergency situations, as well as their consequences. For this, television and radio broadcasting, sirens and other citizen information systems can be used.
Moreover, the notification of the population about dangers, emergencies and potential threats implies a certain reaction from the residents of the village. As soon as the siren sounded, you need to immediately turn on the radio or television in order to hear the appeal of the headquarters for civil defense or local authorities.
This information will allow you to find out what exactly is happening, what are the extent of the destruction and the expected consequences. Residents will also receive instructions on how to proceed.
From the moment that the emergency warning signals were sounded, care must be taken to ensure that the means of communication are constantly on. In such circumstances, the broadcasting nodes in the populated areas at risk are transferred to the operating mode throughout the day.
It is extremely important to obtain the necessary information regarding further actions, as this will help to avoid significant damage and even save a life.
The most common emergencies
If you pay attention to emergency statistics, you can find that they all belong to one of three key groups. It is an emergency of technogenic, environmental and natural character.
As for the consequences of emergencies, for the protection of which means are used to alert the public about emergency situations, then they can be reduced to destruction of the following types:
- mechanical;
- acoustic;
- electromagnetic;
- informational;
- biological;
- radiation;
- thermal;
- chemical.
One of the key signs of any lesion is its scale, for the characterization of which the definition of the zone of influence of a specific destructive factor is used.
Emergency Population Alert - Basics
So, the level of potential threat to the lives of citizens depends on the fact how competently the given information system about emergency situations is organized. Therefore, the key factor here is time.
For this reason, on the territory of the Russian Federation, in each settlement there is a relay node. An interesting fact is that such a large relay network is only in Russia. In order to create a comprehensive effect, regional, provincial and republican television centers, local and broadcast radio stations have been established.
The emergency warning system , in addition to using the means described above, also implies the presence of appropriate sirens in large plants and buildings, with which you can notify the population of a threat.
Moreover, the very howling of sirens since 1988 does not mean an air alert, but the need to pay attention to emergency information. In other words, as soon as the residents hear the sirens, they need to turn on all the broadcasts - radio and television.
Use of voice information
In order to effectively respond to various threats, the emergency and civil defense headquarters, together with the authorities, form certain requests, with the help of which it will be possible to give concise and extremely up-to-date information to the population of those cities and regions that are in danger. For this, various possible situations are initially modeled; a text is compiled for each of them.
For example, in the case of a chemical threat, the organization of public warning in emergency situations will include reporting to citizens the following information:
- warning of an accident at a particular enterprise;
- notification of the nature of the threat (what substance has leaked);
- designation of the direction in which the cloud of toxic fumes moves;
- listing of streets and areas of a settlement falling into the infection zone;
- Alert the public about technological emergencies includes instructions for locking windows and doors, as well as sealing the apartment;
- informing about the inadmissibility of being in the basements and lower floors of the premises;
- a notice about the residents of which areas and houses are forced to leave their apartments and jobs;
- then there will be a final block of information on how to protect yourself (for example, wear gauze dressings moistened with a two percent solution of drinking soda and water).
A similar procedure for alerting the public about emergencies should be designed for a 5-minute speech, repeated several times in a row.
If you have to deal with, say, a flood, then residents will be warned about the threat of flooding and they will name specific places in the city that are in the affected area. This will be followed by information that it is necessary to transfer all supplies and necessary items to the upper floor of the building or attic. Residents will also receive information on which direction to move in case of evacuation. The need to leave the building will also be reported. This is followed by the whole range of related instructions.
As you can see, regardless of the nature of the emergency, the voice alert scheme remains approximately the same.
Radiation hazard recommendations
If an accident occurs at a nuclear power plant, the “radiation hazard” signal is triggered. Such notification of the population about emergency situations, in particular, the risk of exposure, should be made in all settlements that may be in the way of the cloud with radioactive elements.
Behind such a signal is a voice instruction about the need to use a cotton-gauze or fabric dust cover, and, if available, a respirator. If these remedies are not available, then it is worth using a gas mask. You will also need to prepare and take personal protective equipment, a stock of products, and all items that fall into the essential category with you. With this baggage it is important not just to move around, but to move towards the nearest anti-radiation shelter. All these actions will become possible only if there is an organization to provide timely warning of the population in emergency situations.
Important nuances in organizing public awareness
First of all, it is necessary to ensure the broadcast of all relevant information and recommendations using available means of communication. But, in addition to this, care must be taken to ensure that the 5-minute appeal contains all the necessary information that will save the lives of citizens who are in the affected area.
Emergency Alert and Public Awareness It is also extremely important for the reason that the lack of specific data and the corresponding reaction of local authorities in case of emergency can create conditions for panic moods. It is worth noting that panic is potentially dangerous no less than the threat itself.
Moreover, the information block should be clear. That is, people, having heard information and recommendations, should realize it without distortions and incorrect conclusions.
Alternative use of alert tools
There are a number of threats that do not fall into the category of emergencies. An example is military alert. In this case, the same siren is used as in the event of an emergency, only in the message does the text about the threat of an air or other intrusion sound with the following instructions. After attracting attention, any relevant information can be voiced within the framework of the current situation.
Obviously, the current methods of warning the population about emergencies have certain advantages and advantages. First of all, it is an opportunity to quickly attract the attention of people anywhere in the country. In addition, such a system is universal, since it can be used for any alerts, including in wartime. Another key advantage is the full and quick informing of all residents who are at risk. And all this is possible thanks to centralized warning systems, which are based on wired broadcasting, communication networks and special equipment with electric sirens.
Local type warning systems
Understanding how the public is alerted about emergencies, It is worth paying attention to these systems. They are necessary for promptly informing residents about accidents at chemically hazardous enterprises, nuclear power plants, waterworks and various facilities where the risk of disasters is increased.
Using local systems, you can quickly inform about the occurrence of a threat due to an accident, the personnel of the enterprise itself, as well as the leadership of all institutions and organizations that are in close proximity.
To inform the population located in the zone of potential damage, such means of information are also perfect. At the same time, the boundaries of such zones are fixed initially, which allows you to immediately determine the evacuation plan and the necessary strategy for protecting residents.
As a key advantage of local systems, you can determine their obvious efficiency, which is very important in the event of accidents and disasters. As for the decision to launch this system, it is accepted by the duty dispatcher. Initially, the sirens of the nearby housing estate and the object itself in particular are activated. After a sound that attracts the attention of residents, relevant information sounds.
Such an emergency public warning system should be included as soon as possible. Any delay in emergency situations can lead to human casualties.
Who is responsible for the operation of the system
It is obvious that, in addition to the technical component, the human factor is important. The fact that how effective the organization of public warning in emergency situations under specific circumstances directly depends on the qualifications and reaction of the personnel on duty is.
As for the more global organizational issues, they are already dealt with by the chiefs of staff of emergency situations and civil defense, regardless of what rank they have. And the direct support of communication and its initial provision should be carried out by the heads of notification services of settlements (economic facilities, districts, cities, regions). Their duties include monitoring the state of overhead and cable lines, as well as communications equipment.
Evacuation
The procedure for alerting the public about emergencies may include the final stage of organizing the protection of the population, namely, their removal from the dangerous territory.
Moreover, evacuation is one of the main means of protecting residents in the event of an emergency. The essence of this set of measures boils down to the fact that people are massively resettled from areas and settlements where there is a risk of damage to health due to various types of threats (from emergencies to military invasion).
Particularly relevant is the evacuation if the region does not have enough protective structures to accommodate the right number of people. Under such conditions, only a quick and competent removal / withdrawal of residents to a safe area can help to avoid significant casualties.
Conclusion
It is not difficult to conclude that public emergency notification It is an important part of protecting residents of various regions from all key types of threats resulting from emergencies.
For this reason, both the state of the equipment, as well as the organization of the process itself used to signal, must be approached with maximum responsibility.