Disaster management should be an all-hazards approach’

When disaster strikes, it spares no one. Not even disaster specialists. Deployed in Iraq during the recent war, emergency medicine expert Dr Rob Russell (37) had least expected to be fired upon by American forces. “It was an unfortunate incident for the soldiers had mistaken us for somebody else. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” recalls Russell, lead clinician and consultant in emergency medicine at the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit, Peterborough District Hospital, who’s in India to conduct workshops on trauma care and disaster management.

“The trauma care unit at LTMG Hospital is impressive, but it is far too big if one considers the town in which I work,” he laughs. “But then the requirements here are very different.” Having taken a liking to emergency medicine back in the ’90s after attending to victims of a helicopter crash while working with the Royal Scots in Northern Ireland, Russell chose to specialise in it. Besides, the challenges of the job beckoned him. “As a specialist in medicine, my work involves treating patients who have got their fingers pressed in the door to bomb blast victims,” he explains.

Given the fast changing scenario with terrorism and various natural disasters occurring with increased frequency, Russell feels the need for more preparedness. “Emergency medicine and disaster management are fairly novel concepts but the pace in which things are happening, there should be a certain level of readiness to be able to effectively deal with the situation,” he says. “It should be an all-hazards approach which allows one to plan and react. And that is why the basic principles should be made aware to all and then they should go on to make the necessary modifications.”

However, he is careful not to put in place a definitive disaster management blueprint for Mumbai. “It’s difficult for me to design a programme for a city like Mumbai for the ground realities here are very different from where I work. The organisation concerned should take up what it likes and establish the necessary infrastructure.”