The duties of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) Members can be summarised as follows:
- Emergency Coordinators: Immediately notify all personnel to evacuate. Contact the Emergency Services such as the Fire Department, Ambulances and Police. If you cannot get a hold of the fire department - call 082 911 (from a cellphone), they will notify the other authorities. Ensure you can give them your correct physical location as well as the intensity of the fire and state of persons that have been injured. 3 important emergency contact numbers:
Emergency - Ambulance - 10177
Emergency - Cellphone - 112
Emergency - National - 10111
- Evacuation Wardens: Ensure that all employees know which routes to evacuate through. Assist injured, disabled or traumatised personnel to evacuate. Ensure that no traffic (includes people and cars) comes near the building. Block off the entry and exit routes to the building if possible by shutting security/company gates. Ensure that employees stay away from any hazards outside of the building such as falling debris, broken glass, traffic outside building and other hazards.
- Fire Marshals: always carry your fire extinguisher with you and assist others to evacuate by sweeping the exit route before and after evacuation. Do not attempt to extinguish the fire if it is too big/dangerous to handle and stay out of the fire's way. The last one out of the room should not lock the door, just close it. Locking the door hinders the fire department's search and rescue efforts.
- First Aiders: always carry your first aid box/kit with you. Assist Fire Marshals and Evacuation wardens to sweep the building - look for injured, disabled and traumatised persons and help them evacuate. Do not attempt to treat patients inside the building (if at all possible) - use a buddy system, evacuation chair or spinal board to carry injured persons to the outside of the building. If none is available - get creative and use what you have such as office chairs or a cardboard to drag the person out of the building. Commence treatment of patients with injuries/shock at a triage area away from the assembly point and ask someone from the ERT to assist to block off curious and unhelpful bystanders.
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