The recent tragedy in Coimbatore, which involved a fake trainer pushing a teenager to her death during an apparent disaster management drill, left the state in a deep sense of shock. As someone who is in the field of disaster simulation and its management, the impact of the incident hit me hard, personally - and so, I find it necessary to address the situation, hoping that it may avoid the loss of yet another life.
The pain and guilt involved around the death of the 19-year-old only goes on to throw light on how much more careful institutions and individuals alike need to be. It goes without saying, that the incident has also come as a wake up call to everyone concerned, including people like me, who are active members of such simulation drills. From my own professional and personal experience, here are seven ways in which institutions and concerned authorities can be more cautious on whom they appoint for safety training:
1. Check for the trainer’s experience in this field and education credentials
2. Be sure to check references of the trainer, and doing a background check around the same
3. Prior in-person meeting with the trainer before the actual training should be a must
4. Trainer should present a plan of the workshop and step by step flow with the module outline, prior to the training
5. Reach out to the institutions where the trainer claims to have already conducted trainings, to get to know more about the institutions and the success of the training module, to bring further clarity
6. Check whether the trainer was part of any Government, NGO and/ or INGO assignments. Only credible professionals are deployed for these kind of assignments
7. Check for relevant videos, interviews, news articles in print and digital media
While a life has been lost due to a fraudster trainer and lack of institutional responsibility, it is now important that we raise as much awareness as possible. I for one, being a part of the field, have started free introductory sessions on ‘Strengthening Emergency Preparedness’ in the hope to be able to provide more credible and safe training to individuals. But each one of us can be a part of avoiding such tragedies in our own way, and I do hope that we all speak up and take action.
