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The chaos that follows when a disastrous event is happening is undeniable. You may hear sirens ringing, see people rushing by or listen to screams, all indicating that you are in the thick of an emergency. It’s easy to miss the seamless streamlining of services behind the scenes, from sending an alert on your FREE-to-use iER App to the time various emergency responders arrive at the incident scene. Read on to learn more about how emergency response services work together in a crisis.

1. Unified Command and Incident Command Systems (ICS)

During a disaster, there is no room for disorder or mistakes. If every emergency responder arrived without knowing who was in charge or which unit was responsible for what, it would confuse and derail the proper provision of the urgent care required by the victims. However, emergency service providers rely on unified command by effectively using incident command systems (ICS).

These are in place to ensure that structure and order are maintained. For instance, when you send a panic alert to the iER emergency centre, they will relay your information detailing the nature of the incident, location and what is required to the relevant emergency responders such as an ambulance operator, police units and fire rescue services. This ensures roles and responsibilities are established while maintaining control and working towards saving lives.

2. Communication and Coordination

Nationwide emergency operation centres are usually buzzing with activity around this time of the year. The iER contact centre receives more incident reports as the holiday season looms. This leads to information sharing with more victims, requiring efficient updates on the availability of emergency responders.

As a result, you have a network of service providers who constantly share important updates that could mean the difference between life and death. If an emergency response unit encounters a crisis, they will update other units to ensure open lines of communication for everyone. This allows adequate synchronisation of emergency services to ensure coordination for a more efficient outcome.

3. Resource Sharing

Resources can quickly become scarce during an emergency, such as a natural disaster. Most emergency service providers can be stretched to the limit. However, pooling resources under these circumstances can help improve the situation.

For example, an ambulance from a nearby town can rush to your location instead of waiting for hours for local responders. Response teams working together to share their resources can ensure the survival of more people. Additionally, the goal is to reduce response times while preventing running out of specialised equipment.

4. Public Information and Alerts

Clear information sharing becomes urgent when panic spreads during a crisis. After sending an alert on your FREE-to-use iER App, you are likely to stay glued to your phone waiting for an update on instructions. This is when it becomes necessary for official information centres to step in and clarify the specifics.

Emergency service providers are responsible for ensuring that accurate statistics, urgent updates, and evacuation procedures are readily available for victims. They also ensure that miscommunication is kept at a minimum. Most importantly, their role is to guide you to safety without raising panic.

5. Medical Response and Hospital Coordination

Coordinating medical response and hospital admission resources is another example of how effective emergency response services work together. For example, the units who are at the scene of the accident can communicate with the trauma teams at the hospitals to ensure rooms for treatment or admission are prepared and to brace themselves for an inflow of severely injured victims. Other benefits of medical response units and hospital coordination include:

• Ensuring a patient-centred approach.
• Preventing injuries and symptoms worsening.
• Reducing the risk of errors such as misdiagnosis, oversight on the severity of injuries, and mixing medications.
• Rapid response from various healthcare providers.

Emergency services aren’t only there to respond when you alert them of a crisis. They connect, communicate, and coordinate to share resources and unite to ensure the victims’ survival. When you send an alert from your FREE-to-use iER App, you should remember that coordination with over 17,500 nationwide medical and non-medical emergency responders is happening behind the scenes to save lives.