September 7, 2012 by Ayomikun Abiola
The Director General, National
EmergencyManagement Agency, Alhaji Mohammad Sidi, says crowd control is
the major challenge facing rescue operators in the country.
Sidi said this at a stakeholders’ forum
tagged ‘After Action Review’ comprising mainly those who participated in
rescue operations during the Dana plane crash of June 3, 2012 in Lagos
on Thursday.
The NEMA boss said, “We were all
witnesses to the Dana Air crash; it took more than four hours for us to
control only the crowd so that rescue operations can take place.
“Military personnel had to be brought in before the operators could handle the emergency situation.
“No matter the kind of equipment you have, accessibility to the place is very important.
“That’s why we are intensifying efforts to sensitize and educate the public on what to do in such a situation.
“If you have helicopters, they need a
space to land, but that place was so jam-packed with people and it was
hard to work under such circumstances.”
Sidi said there was the urgent need for awareness creation to direct the populace on how to go about emergencies.
He said it was the responsibility of the agency and the mass media to educate the public on that.
Sidi urged all the groups involved in
managing crisis to participate actively in order to reduce casualties
during such critical situations.
“Rescue operation is multi-dimensional.
We all have to play our roles as agencies, as government and even as a
community, in effective management of crisis,” he stated.
He said review was organised to examine the emergency response operations to the crash.
“With a view to identifying lapses in case of the future,” he noted.
SOURCE: The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper 7 September 2012.
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