GoCrisis Resilience Leaders' Week

I have just returned from a week-long “Resilience Leaders’ Week” conducted by the international disaster management company GoCrisis in Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, UK. It was indeed an amazing event, where learning, laughter and networking went hand-in-hand. The topics covered a wide range of relevant aspects, each presented or moderated by internationally recognized experts in their respective fields.

Some of the major takeaways from this event are:

·??????? Emergency response is, and will always remain a multi-agency task. The audience in this event comprised of representatives from aviation, government bodies, universities, regulatory or investigation agencies, police, medical including mental health, cruise lines, hospitality industries, media, insurance and others, and the perception offered by each one of them was absolutely enlightening and provided a much-needed insight into the specific and non-specific roles and strengths and weaknesses of the different agencies involved.

·??????? Humanitarian response will always remain the top priority. Irrespective of the nature of the crisis, the care and welfare of the affected people will take precedence over everything else. Once again, every involved agency will have a role to play in this task and would call for close coordination and cooperation.

·??????? Medical Response. The capabilities and constraints of the medical setup needs to be clearly understood by the emergency planners. ?The fact that medical resources would be stretched to the limit was clearly brought out through a vivid first-hand case study.

·??????? Media. The importance of media management needs no reiteration. A comprehensive and realistic crisis communication plan and well-trained spokesperson can make or break an organisation’s reputation.

·??????? Sensitivity in dealing with families. A heart-wrenching practice/demo of a family briefing in a Family Assistance Centre demonstrated how important, and how difficult, it is to conduct this hyper-sensitive task.

·??????? Mental health. The aspect of mental health requires deeper understanding. The tendency to push in mental health professionals as first-responders needs to be re-evaluated and reviewed.

All credit for this fantastic event goes to Ms Elmarie Marais, CEO GoCrisis and her highly capable team, and Mr. Richard Gordon, Director of Disaster Management Centre, Bournemouth University. I hope this will prove to be forerunner for many more similar events.