The Unexpected

Cricket is the air and “Holi” colours haven’t been gone completely. There are still traces of the colours on our hands, faces and scalp suggesting that we have had a wonderful Holi celebration. I am sure you all had a great time too. If you are a nature lover, I am sure you would be enjoying the flowers in full bloom welcoming the Spring.

However the topic I chose to write today is something which falls under the “IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT” category. It is “What to do if a crisis happens?” I send it today so that we plan and prepare ourselves should such a crisis ever happen in our lives. The best time to plan is when we think there’s no need for a plan.

Crisis never comes with an appointment…..I am sure that a lot of you reading this would agree to this but would vary on different aspects of this line. I quote this with reference to the tragic tsunami which shook the coast of Japan almost a fortnight back. Though the city has been built on a tectonic plate, this kind of nature’s fury wasn’t expected to be. Had this been some other city, the casualty list would have been many times higher. The video footages of the Tsunami are very disturbing and have an eerie resemblance to a lot of the Hollywood disaster movies. To add to the woes and suffering, there has been confirmed news of the leakage of the nuclear plants. May god give strength to the kin of the effected people. Life surely would never be the same for those people.

Sometimes, no amount of preparation can help us tide the unexpected. However, the least we can do is to be prepared for the worst.

On the office front, we are often flooded with emails on what to do in event of fire, earthquake, business disruption (BCM) etc. Most of the times, we ignore these mails simply by telling ourselves that this would never happen to us or we know what we need to do in those circumstances. That’s what causes the major damage. Ignorance of safety standards causes the maximum damage to human life. It is imperative that we go through these “not-for-me” mails and know what do in special unseen circumstances.

I give you some of the basic scenarios and ask for your reaction under these situations.

- Someone gets injured in a road accident

- There’s a fire in the building

- Person has a Heart Attack

- There’s an earthquake

I am sure you would have an idea of the things to do and more importantly not to do under these situations. Still I would want you to take out 5-10 crucial minutes to visit some of the suggested links for a better understanding.

Incase of Earthquake

Incase of Fire

Incase of Heart Attack

This list is surely not exhaustive but I am sure they give us a sense of what to do. It’s the first few minutes which are most critical in these situations. Also would be great if we stored the emergency numbers on our handsets.

I leave you with this small thought. Do you know why we wear seat belts when we drive? It is not because it is not because it saves our life in event of an accident but because there is a challan for Rs 100/-. I am sure our lives are much precious than those hundred rupees..!!!  Accidents don’t always happen for your fault. 50% of the times it’s the person on the other side who’s at fault. Yet, the damage would be ours as well. So drive safe and always remember to wear your seat belts while driving.

Last but not the least, share this with your friends…you never know who might need this vital information.

P.S – I just wish and pray that no one of us ever needs to use this information ever in our lives. But I still thought it was important to share this vital information. Life is priceless....!!