First Things First!

Checking In:
Assuming you’ve been called into service one way or another, either through your agency,

organization, company or you’re an independent responder. Someone needs to know you’re in the disaster environment.

If you are an independent responder and no one knows your there, you can become a liability if you become injured, or you may find you are getting in the way of other responders. Don’t hesitate to stay in contact with the established Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to gather safety information relevant to the disaster event.

As with many emergency or disaster related tasks or assignments, you will need to abide by the use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Welcome to understanding more of everything going on around you! These will become learned traits and will ultimately increase your level of working safely, and being more productive.

Communication is one if not the most criticized issue in lessons learned from any event. Make sure your part of the answer as opposed to the problem.