Professionals - Floods - Response

1. e-Learning in Floods
Professionals

2. Response
In the following, you will be presented with information on
how you might respond:
• During:
• How to convey knowledge and information to other stakeholders.
• How to implement the plan of action.
• How to look after yourself.
• After (recovery):
• How to Implement recovery plans.
• How to convey knowledge and information to other stakeholders.
• Awareness of the dangers after a natural disaster.
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3. Activation
There is a saying “Prevention is better than cure”. This means that if you have
made good prevention arrangements and preparation plans then, in some
cases, you won’t need to respond at all. All in all prevention and preparation
is important to make a good and effective response.
You need to start activation of the Fire and Rescue Services plans when the
Met Office (The Meteorological Office) warns about storms and increased
water levels.
The Met Office will initially warn about flooding and, as the days go by, the
forecast will become more precise and clarify if the preparedness activities
you have made are sufficient or if you need to think about new strategies and
obtaining other resources.
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4. Duration
First of all you need to be aware that the response to
flooding is a long-lasting process. It is not likely to be
over in a couple of hours or an afternoon!
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5. Response phases
The response phase is the stage of
preparing to respond and
activating some of the measures
that you have assessed will be
required.
The response can be divided into
three phases which here are
referred to as before, during and
after.
The first phase, before, is shortly
before the response and refers to
the preparation phase.
Before
• Who to contact and what to prepare?
• What to be aware of about your own safety?
During
• How to convey and communicate information to
stakeholders or other agencies?
• How to put your plan of action into practice?
• What do you need to be aware about regarding
your own safety?
After
• How to put the recovery plan into practice?
• How to convey and communicate information to
stakeholders or other agencies?
• What to be aware of regarding the dangers after
flooding?
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6. Before a response
What to do shortly before the response?
• The Fire and Rescue Services will, at this stage, be preparing for the
response and awaiting the realization of the warnings sent out. Now
you activate, or as a minimum advise, the local flood groups and other
resources, and the mapping material from the GIS office may be
gathered.
• From the warnings sent by the Met Office, you can now start to launch
a response and/or prepare reinforcement of the potential weak areas,
set up temporary barriers of sandbags, watertubes or other material to
keep water away from vital areas e.g. transformer substation, hospital
etc..
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7. During a response
What to do during the response?
This phase extends from the when
flooding starts to when the water
recedes and, during this, there will
be a lot of practical, but also
administrative, actions which will
be activated.
This is where you use your plan of
action made regarding flooding.
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8. Communication
How to communicate?
It is important to have proper
communication and reporting of
the situation from the areas
affected.
This must be controlled and
coordinated from a central place,
if necessary also combined with
smaller command posts.
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9. Communication
Creation of an Operations Room -
where you gather the different
agencies (emergency services, the local
authority, Environment Agency, health
agencies etc) is very important to make
a mutual effort within communication
and coordination of the united
response.
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10. Communication
The incident commander, or other
emergency professional personnel,
can be placed strategically in the
local flood area from where they can
report and possibly lead deployed
resources.
The areas can be places where you
know bridges and other connections
can be cut off because of the
flooding, or other areas, such as low-
lying land, where the water can have
an influence on residential or
business areas.
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11. Communication
Most likely there will be
Operational commands (Bronze)
close to the incident.
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12. Tasks
What tasks will be required during the response?
If the preparations have been made properly the response could just be
a question of attending possibly threatened areas and deploying
sandbags barriers, watertubes etc., This is the preferable scenario, but it
will depend on the nature of the warnings in relation to the rise in river
levels, sea levels, wind speeds and wind direction.
In those places where you have assessed that the water can be
problematic, you may need to send out observers to confirm that the
water stays on the right side of the barriers; at the same time you will
closely monitor the situation and to be ahead of developments and ready
to call in additional personnel if the situation changes.
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13. Tasks
If the preparations have been made
properly the response could just be a
question of attending possibly
threatened areas, rivers, sandbag
barriers, watertubes etc..
This is the preferable scenario, but it
depends on the nature of the warnings
in relation to the rise in river or sea
levels, wind speeds and wind direction.
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14. Tasks
In those places where you have assessed
that the water can be problematic, you
may need to send out observers. They
have to confirm that the water stays on
the right side of the barriers at the same
time as you closely monitor the situation
and make sure to be ahead of
developments and call in additional
personnel if the situation changes.
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15. Tasks
A lot of things can have an influence on the
development of flooding so it is difficult to
predict what will happen.
Unforeseen events will often emerge during the
response phase e.g. if a river bank breaches, the
water rises more than expected or larger or
smaller areas are flooded. The response needs to
be initiated to make sure the persons in the area
are evacuated. Evacuation should ideally, of
course, have already been initiated and finished
before the situation arises if you have had the
sings that flooding in this area cannot be
prevented.
However it is not always possible to foresee this
precisely through the warnings of where the
water will flood residential or business areas.
The Fire and Rescue Services need work with the
local authority and be prepared to deal with an
evacuation and the material needed in this
situation could be:
• Rescue boats
• Rescue bridges
• Drysuits
• Life jackets
• Buses for the evacuated
• Lights
• Designated evacuation centres
• Dry clothes for the evacuated
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16. Evacuation
How to deal with an evacuation?
This response will demand a large
amount of trained personnel to both
search and rescue in flooded areas
and also to receive the evacuated
persons, who may be both very cold
and exhausted.
This type of response is a task which
is very different from the normal
emergency response, both in relation
to the working environment and the
potential duration of the response.
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17. Evacuation
The task for you is primarily to save and rescue life as a first-priority. However the priorities of all
rescuers should be:
• Self
• Team
• Victim
It is important to take responsibility for your own actions especially your actions in a dangerous
situation. Acting on impulses such as jumping into water unequipped or untrained to save a person,
is highly likely to cause more than one casualty.
Furthermore you have a responsibility to look after your team members and not place them in
danger. The safe systems of work need to be followed and each member look after their own safety.
When you and your team’s safety is secured, you can start to perform rescues and / or operate in a
water environment.
Finally you can retrieve your equipment, but only if the risk is low – equipment can be replaced, but
you can not!
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18. Evacuation
The affected people can be categorized into category 1, 2 and 3 persons, as
normally referred to in emergency service terms.
• Category 1 persons - in a flooding situation are persons who are not
directly affected. They are kept informed of the situation in the affected
areas, normally through websites or other central news sites.
• Category 2 persons - are people who will be evacuated from areas that
might be affected. They will be evacuated by the police and other
emergency services, or they will be told to evacuate themselves through
press releases to designated assembly points e.g. schools and sports halls.
• Category 3 persons - are the ones who need rescue, either because they are
located in properties that are flooded or because they are in areas cut off
because of the water. Persons located in flooded properties are at greater
risk of hypothermia rather than drowning.
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19. Evacuation
It may come as a surprise that people can get caught
in the water, but often people don’t realize that they
are in danger until it is too late. As the rising water
might be only a few degrees, this can be a potential
life-threatening situation for the affected persons. At
the same time it is very likely that all power and heat
will be disconnected in the affected areas.
Healthy and mobile persons have the opportunity to
seek higher ground and wait for help . However the
disabled and elderly might not have that opportunity,
and are therefore in greater risk of quickly getting
hypothermia and can even drown if they move into
the flooded areas.
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20. Evacuation
How the work of rescue can be made
easier depends, yet again, on the
specialist equipment and material the
fire and rescue service might have
for the purpose.
Because of this, it is difficult to make
consistent guidelines to how the
response can be made.
However there are some guidelines
on water rescue in the following
slides.
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21. Water rescue
Before starting a water rescue you need
to make a scene assessment of all the
elements that might affect rescue e.g.
weather, water conditions, number of
casualties etc..
After this, you need to make a plan in
order to safely deal with the situation.
The plan should include four stages
which are known as the LAST principle:
• Locate
• Access
• Stabilise
• Transport
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22. Water rescue
There are 15 formulated absolutes of flood and
swift-water rescue:
General principles
1. Keep it simple
2. Always be proactive
Before the rescue starts
3. The priority at the scene is always self-
rescue first, the rescue and security of
team-mates and the victim last
4. Always wear a Personal Flotation Device
(PFD) if you need to enter the water
5. Use the right equipment
6. Do not use a fire helmet for water rescue
operations – use one designed for the
purpose
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Source: Northumberland Fire and Rescue

23. Water rescue
Before entering the water
7. Always deploy upstream spotters above the
rescue operation – ideally on both sides of the
river
8. Always have appropriate downstream back ups
9. Always have a back up plan
Working with rope in the water
10. Never tie a rope around a rescuer – rescuers
have died as a result of being tied to a rope. If a
rescuer is to enter the water attached to a rope it
must be attached to a specialist quick release
harness on a rescue PFD
11. Never tension a rope at right angles to the
current if it is used for in-water operations
12. Never stand inside a loop of rope and always
stand on the upstream side of the rope
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Performing the rescue
13. Never put your feet down if swept away -
attempting to stand up in flowing water can lead
to potentially fatal situation of foot entrapment –
where a persons foot becomes trapped on the
river bed which can cause their head to be
pushed under the water. Foot entrapments can
also be caused by underwater debris and
hazards in flood areas. Correct use of swimming
techniques and not standing up until located in
a safe eddy will reduce risk of foot entrapments
14. Never count on a victim to help in their own
rescue
15. Once contact is made with the victim, every
effort should be made to avoid losing contact
with them again and ensure they are recovered
to safety under direct supervision.

24. Incident command
Finally this type of situation makes
high demands on the incident
commander or/and team leader, who
not only have to decide who to rescue
first, but also have to decide how this
rescue should be done.
In addition they also have to log the
work and ensure all houses are
thoroughly searched and marked.
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The following points are what the
incident commander/team leader
should have knowledge of and be
able to deal with:
• Searching techniques
• Writing log
• Dealing with rescue boats
• Personal protection equipment
(PPE)
• Dealing with evacuees
• Working in water
• Decontamination

25. Own safety
What to be aware of regarding your
own safety?
During flooding you need to be very
aware of pollution of the water. The
accumulated water is not only river or
seawater, but also water from the
sewers, fuel from flooded vehicles, dead
animals etc.
As soon as the water enters the
residential / business areas, it also areas
with sewers, sewerage plants, scrapyards
and similar, where there are products
that, if they come into contact with the
water are a potential source of pollution.
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Because of the pollution, it is important
to keep in mind cleaning of the
personnel who have been in the water,
as well as cleansing of the used
equipment.
At repeated responses in polluted water,
there should be clean and dry working
clothes to the personnel.

26. Own safety
Something very useful, when working in
polluted and flooded areas, are waders.
They isolate and keep the clothes dry.
Please note that when working in
waders, you have to wear a life jacket,
when the water exceeds the knees.
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27. Own safety
Fire in electrical installations is a severe
risk during flooding. This is due to
incoming water in houses or flooded
electrical cabinets of all sizes. These
fires can create some particular
challenges, which can lead to you
having to use other response options.
It is important to focus on keeping a
safe distance to these, if they are located
in the water and are on fire.
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28. Power cut
Flooding can cause power cuts e.g.
due to water in electrical supplies
which also can cause fire.
The following are some things you
can do, but also can advise the
people in your community to do in
case of a power cut.
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29. Power cut
What to do in a power cut:
• Check out the neighbour’s house – If your
neighbours still have power but your home or
office doesn’t, it is likely that the problem lies
with your own fuses or trip switches. If the
whole area is out then contact your local
energy supplier to inform them (make sure
you have the number in the contact list of
your emergency plan - 105), or if they are
already aware they may be able to provide
more detail on the incident, i.e. cause and
estimated time of outage.
• Switch off appliances – Unplug sensitive
appliances such as TVs, satellite equipment
and computers. Switch off all electrical
appliances that may have been in use when
the supply was interrupted, but should not be
left unattended such as cookers.
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30. Power cut
• Leave a light switched on – Leave, or switch on, at
least one light switched on so you will know when
the power has been restored.
• Limit the use of your laptop or mobile phone – Don’t
use your devices unnecessarily to save battery power.
Use a battery powered or wind-up radio to tune into
news updates.
• Avoid opening your fridge or freezer more than
necessary – Leave your fridge door closed if possible
until the supply is restored. Chilled products should
remain safe for a number of hours. Freezers should
remain sufficiently cold to keep products safe for
several hours. It is also worth noting that a full
freezer will stay colder for longer, so if your freezer
is only partially full then consider freezing
containers of water to fill the void space.
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31. Power cut
• Other sources of lighting – Ensure you have
a torch close at hand and that the batteries
are working. If you are going to use
candles, paraffin or gas lamps then please
take care. Consider the following:
• Place them on a stable non-combustible
surface where they can’t be knocked
off.
• Place them away from curtains and soft
furnishings.
• Do not leave them unattended.
• Other sources of heating – Portable heaters
are good, but take care where you put them
and it is worth checking them periodically
to ensure they are working properly.
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32. Power cut
• Advise your community on looking after pets – Most pets will not be
affected by a power interruption, but you may want to contact your local
pet shop or RSPCA for advice if you own tropical fish, unusual or exotic
animals. If the power is off for only a short period of time then most
tropical fish will be unaffected. Mains-operated air pumps, filters and
heaters in fish tanks will not work while the electricity is off, so for
longer power outages you may want to consider the following:
• Unplugging your filters to prevent toxins building up. You are
advised to clean the filters before using them again.
• Consider buying a bubble up filter than can be run off a battery
powered air pump as a back-up. Battery powered heaters can also
be purchased from most pet shops.
• For insulation, wrap blankets around the outside of the tank, or
alternatively fill hot water bottles or other receptacles with warm
water and place these around the tank.
• To keep oxygen in the tank, periodically disturb the water with
your finger or alternatively fill a cup full of water from the tank
and pour it back in.
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33. Power cut
• Check on elderly or vulnerable in your
community – Ensure elderly or vulnerable
neighbours are safe and comfortable.
• Turn your appliances on one at a time –
When power is restored turn your
appliances back on one at a time.
Remember, if you have any electric clocks,
alarm clocks or video recorders, these may
need resetting.
• Also remember that door bells and alarm
systems may not work when your supply
is interrupted. Many alarm systems have
battery back-ups, i.e. hardwired smoke
alarms, but a power outage may mean
these don’t work correctly.
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34. After the response
What to do after the response?
At some point the water will start to
recede, and you are now left with
cleaning and disposal of water
accumulated in places where it has no
capacity to drain e.g. due to lowering in
the contours of the land.
You need to use your recovery plan
which will contain information such as
the following.
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35. Tasks
The task for the Fire and Rescue
Services is mostly to clean up in
relation to contents from the
businesses and houses, flotsam and
similar that might be damaged by the
water and need to be discarded.
The tasks may be limited to pumping
away water as well as providing
assistance to people regarding e.g.
disposable suits, masks, gloves and
other personal protection equipment.
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36. Awareness
Due to the health risk from sewage, you have to
take precautions. Sludge and/or sediment from a
flood are normally not seen as a greater health risk.
If there has been sewage in the flooding is it
important to be careful with ordinary hygienic
precautions (avoid getting residues of sludge and
sediment on the skin and in mouth and eyes, hand
wash, change of footwear when you go indoors,
etc.) in and after movements and working in it.
Take extra precautions if you have a wound on the
skin.
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