Our nation has experienced a number of disasters in the past, may those be manmade or natural disasters. Loss in terms of life, property and environmental damages during each disaster may be measurable in terms of statistics or put down in figures. But the fact is that loss of life is irrecoverable, agony through which humans undergo can not be shared but definitely minimized.

Agony of one caught in a disaster even compels others to stand up and provide assistance to those who need it at that moment of time, as this is human nature. But then each one who realizes the agony and pain of others, has some kind of fear which lead to many questions in their minds such as "what can I alone do to help?", "will I be able to handle the magnitude?". Many such questions do arise in the mind…its only natural to have these apprehensions.

To address and action all such thoughts that debilitate our will to contribute, the benevolent and energetic founder of AADM, Dr. Aniruddha Joshi (Sadguru Bapu) instituted a program to create awareness amongst the masses to respond positively to a disaster. AADM offers a structured course in disaster management that enhances a person's confidence to respond and also assist government authorities at the grass root level to mitigate the effect of disaster and support in rehabilitation.

The objective of the course in its introduction to the corporates is:

• To create awareness amongst all the stakeholders of government agencies to provide support and impetus to reduce the impact and after-effects of disasters
  
• To promote adoption and integration of comprehensive disaster risk reduction and mitigation measures
  
• To enhance linkages with the District Administration and other Emergency Support Functions (ESF) departments/ agencies

• The awareness of Disaster Management techniques will enhance capability to assess hazards and equip an individual to respond to rescue people in the organization
  
• Moreover the a person trained in disaster management can assist in any kind of disaster situation and also help in saving valuable lives and property
  
• By educating its employees on Disaster Management planning and implementation the government bodies help them to regularly upgrade their skill set. Moreover a very high level of confidence is observed amongst the employees after undergoing this course, which ultimately helps in increasing the productivity and profitability

• Two days of training, with 6 hours each day

The course structure is as follows:

Disaster and Disaster Management

• This subject includes the concept of Disaster Management, various applicable definitions and various stages of Disaster Management Cycle. This helps in orienting once mind to prevent, mitigate and respond to disasters.
  
• This subject is followed by Manmade and natural disasters such as Earthquake, floods etc and Fire, bomb blast etc. Do's and Don'ts in such situations are briefed.

First Aid and CPCR

• Basic First Aid knowledge required is discussed in this subject. Important subjects such as triage, basic principles of first aid, burns, bleeding, poisoning, Electric shock, drowning, injuries, snake bite, hypothermia, etc, and Cardio pulmonary cerebral resuscitation(CPCR)

Basic Rescue Technique

• This subject is practical oriented and is a combination of lectures and demonstrations. The subject emphasizes use of available resources and manpower to carry out rescue operations such as use of rope to evacuate casualties from trapped locations, transportation of casualties by manual lifts or improvised stretchers, application of bandages to various injuries/ fractures etc. Basic response to disaster is also emphasized during the lecture.

Fire prevention, Mitigation and response

• Fire and three essential elements of Fire such as Heat, Fuel and Oxygen. Basic rules to prevent fire, basic approach if fire is discovered such as reporting, restricting and extinguishing fire. Use of various fire fighting equipment and their limitations.

Mock drill

• Mock exercises are conducted which helps in emphasizing the importance of all above subjects and their application in the existing working\ environment.
  
• The benefit of the Mock drill is:
  1. Establishes a common understanding to respond to a situation and helps in allocating appropriate responsibilities to people
  2. Eventually develops confidence to respond to a given situation in a correct technical manner as a team.
  3. Reinforces the safety culture with in the organisation,
  4. People become more vigilant to avert disasters
  5. This eventually has a far spread effects beyond working environment to respond to disaster in any situation in a systematic and orderly manner