Lessons from Mumbai part I

Here is a set of guidelines for people, institutions, media, police and politicians to be followed in emergency situations. Get these guidelines implemented.

REASON for making these guidelines.
 Our awareness and readiness is our first defense.
 The more prepared we are, the more difficult it will be for them.
 The more we tolerate our own follies the less prepared we become.
 The more time we spend in discussion, the more time we give the terrorists for planning.
 Chaos is a friend of our enemies.

EMERGENCY can be: Fire/Stampede/ Earth quake/Terrorism action like Bomb blast or firing

1.Guidelines for Public places.( like Hotels, Cinema halls, Railway station, Shopping malls, colleges, religious places, Hospitals)
a.Have at least 10 stretchers, kept in an accessible place to carry the injured.
b.Mark a clear path for emergency services to come in and go out in minimum time. These should be marked on all gates.
c.Have 1 drill each quarter for the emergency situations like fire, stampede, blasts.
d.Have loud alarms to make everyone in any corner aware of emergency and that means escape through the emergency exit.
e.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
f.Staff should know what to do in case of emergency.
i.Whom to report to in office in case of emergency.
ii.How to escape
iii.How to report emergency to nearest police/hospitals.


2.Guidelines for People
a.Don’t crowd around the scene of action. Go home and sit tight. Even a few minutes delay in arrival of the police vehicles due to crowd can give terrorist enough time to recuperate.
b.The moment you hear loud noises of gunfire/explosion, lie down on the ground.
c.Don’t panic. Panic can cause stampede. Chaos helps to serve the purpose of terrorists.
d.You gain nothing if you waive your hands in front of TV cameras. This is emergency, not a Cricket match.
e.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should go to Railway stations or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.
f.Keep your eyes and ears open while traveling. A rashly driven vehicle on the road can be that of the terrorist. Don’t ignore that, inform police about it.


3.Relatives of hostages
a.Should be given a separate waiting area inside a nearby building and not kept waiting on streets.
b.Fix the number of family members allowed on scene. 2 or 3 members only.
c.Make sure only the healthy ones are allowed.
d.No heart patients, children or old relatives should be allowed, as the scene can be traumatizing and affect them psychologically for a long time to come.


4.Guidelines for police
a.Cordon off the scene and put barricade. (Two bystanders were hit when bullets went astray during the encounter at Taj hotel)
b.Have ‘cordon tape’ or ‘barrier tapes’ to cordon of the area where entry is not allowed.
c.Mark a clear path for the coming and going of the vehicles like police cars, ambulances, fire brigades. (at the Nariman house, people were crowding the narrow lanes and the vehicles had a very slow speed.)
d.Clamp a total curfew in the area.
e.Allow movement of emergency vehicles only. (Young boys were walking from one terror scene to another as if they are going form one tamasha to another.)
f.Hospitals must be given a number to report the number of beds with them in case of emergency. This number will then guide the ambulances to the hospital which is ready.
g.A emergency frequency must be there for telecom communication. Around the action scene, all frequency except the emergency frequency should be jammed using frequency jammers.)
h.During emergency situations, only bonafied passengers should be allowed on Railway platforms or Airports, this will reduce traffic and ease police checking in these areas.



5.Guidelines to the media in emergency situations.
a.Limit the number of journalist per channel. 2 at most.
b.Don’t poke your mike into a just released hostage.
c.Don’t poke your mike into a commando/policeman who has just come out of a grueling battle.
d.Don’t air comments by bystanders as they only add to the rumor and don’t give authoritative and concrete information.
e.Respect the limits set by police. (one India TV reporter was shown standing right behind a NSG commando, he should be taken to court for obstructing military operations)
f.Don’t take positions in nearby buildings for a better shot as even one bullet hitting a journalist is success for the terrorists.
g.Don’t air the relatives of policeman or victims unless they give you explicit permission to make their grief public. Respect their privacy in these extremely painful situations.
h.If you have made a wrong reporting, say SORRY.


6.Guidelines for Politicians:
a.Politician should refrain from giving comments to the media, unless they have credible information.
b.Don’t visit a martyr’s house unless you have been given permission by his/her relatives.
c.Don’t announce compensation, till the incident is over and you know you can deliver.
d.Local MLA/MP should come on air and ask the people to remain indoors and cooperate with police.
e.Be quick to seek help from other state police/NSG/Army and private agencies.
f.Politicians should use their party machinery to prevent spread of rumors.
g.When paying tribute to martyrs, don’t highlight your own name or that of your party workers.
h.Say SORRY. That’s what people want to hear. Not saying sorry shows your arrogant incompetence. Say SORRY to people.

These guidelines should be widely circulated in public using all media, (Radio/Print/TV/ internet/ mobile) to be circulated among public at the earliest and repeatedly at the time of emergency. F possible take them to Police, Media, and your company/college etc. for implementation.
Translate into Indian languages.