When disaster strikes

India has much to learn from Boston on emergency preparedness and response

India has much to learn from Boston on emergency preparedness and response

The bomb explosions at the finish line of Bostons famous marathon remain unexplained,but the attack is the most serious the country has experienced since 9/11. For India,the situation brings up all too many memories of improvised explosive devices in crowded city quarters,in Pune,Delhi,Mumbai and Hyderabad. The aftermath of the Boston bombing,though,was remarkably different from anything we are used to. The emergency response apparatus snapped into action. Uniformed personnel ran through the area,looking for those hurt,closing off the site for investigation. Medical crews went through the crowd to triage the wounded,attend to the most seriously hurt and take them to trauma centres. The police department and city council coordinated their actions. Media advisories were given,complete with parking directions,and citizens were told how they could assist the investigation. The official response was measured it did not speculate in an information vacuum,while assuring citizens that answers would be found.

One of the reasons the Boston response seemed so effective was simply practice. This attack was a disaster drill that had become real,and the police knew what to do. In comparison,though India is more frequently attacked,each incident catches our system unawares,every lesson has to be learned all over again. Think of the most recent attack in Hyderabads Dilsukhnagar,a case study in unpreparedness. There was already information that the Indian Mujahideen had scouted the area. It had already been targeted twice before the police found the explosive device by dumb luck once,and the terrorists succeeded the second time in 2007. Yet,the police failed to expect and avert another attack. Part of the problem,of course,is that responsibility is scattered and there is no unified counter-terrorism system. But equally important is the fact that our police lacks the foresight and training to recognise and thwart attacks,that it needs to call in experts after the event.

The Dilsukhnagar incident,like many others before it,was also a statement on how other systems fail citizens in such situations. Confusion and chaos inevitably follow the tragedy. Emergency protocols are shoddy. Public service ambulances are few,hospitals tend to get overwhelmed,families must piece together their own information. Other people,even if well-meaning,tend to impede the process,rather than help. Disaster drills are almost unheard of. Forestalling terrorist attacks may not be easy,but getting these more mundane details right is crucial.