Watching and learning

They say that History repeats itself. You can see that when you watch what is going on in all areas of life. It’s the reason we have Cv’s and ask people what they have been doing with their lives.

It isn’t 100% which is unfortunate for those who have made a mistake that won’t be recreated but is attached to them like a millstone all through their lives.

So when something happens in your local area it is a good idea to watch what happens because that gives you a good idea what will happen next time and enable you to plan what you can do to make you and yourself safe.

For example if you live in an industrial town your local council may have emergency procdures in place to handle a fire at a local chemical plant. These plans look great on paper, a siren goes and you are advised to remain indoors until another siren sounds the all clear. The problem being that when the siren goes off most people don’t remember the instructions and they struggle to recollect what to do. They end up going outside to see what is happening or phoning around and clogging the hone lines. Some people have the instructions or remember them. The others have no idea what to do.usually, the all clear is called with only a slight issue such as a small releaseof gas. The environment agency then fines them and everyone is happy. Money for the government from someone with it and no harm done.

Luckily most of the time these procedures are not need. I say luckily because when they are nobody knows what to do.

So fast forward to the last few days. A terror attack in the US. Terrorists have again chosen easy targets and innocents have died. As you would expect there are procedures in place but feedback from the US seems to indicate that safety is not the prime requirement of these procedures for everyone.

The first thought of the plod on the scene was to evacuate and they helped guide the crowd away in case there were secondary devices. However, there was then a cordon put around the area and people were not allowed to leave. The phones were then disconnected and people were left with no way out and no way to communicate with their loved ones.

So bang goes your well laid plans. Over ridden by a policy put in place to control information until the government can ensure the right messages are ready, anything they don’t want is covered up and they have documented everything.

So what can you do? You can’t get home, you can’t contact people to arrange anything or let them know how you are or make any arrangements.

Under these circumstances you are pretty powerless. No matter what plans you have prepared and to be honest there is little you can do about it. All you can do is adapt and prepare for not getting out. Make sure you have items on you to keep you warm, that can identify you and that whilst stuck inside the cordon you keep away from other areas that may be targets for secondary bombs.

This is a terrible time but we should take advantage of these situations to watch and learn. It will help us prepare and understand.