The volunteers trained by National Disaster Response Force Academy (NDRF) will play a significant role during war-like situation, when needed, NDRF Commandant Pankaj Kumar said. There are several battalions of NDRF working in various parts of the country. The volunteers attached to these battalions are given various types of training and accordingly they are deployed at various places. These Civil Defence volunteers took part in mock drills conducted across India on Wednesday. “These trained volunteers by NDRF Academy though are behind the curtains, their role is important in war-like situation too.

 

If the cities suffer attacks then Civil Defence teams run to rescue the civilians. They are also trained to provide first aid, carry the people on their backs. Civilians are not used to such attacks so in many cases people though not injured physically, they experience trauma. These trained volunteers also counsel them. The attacks create fires so these volunteers know how to respond to fire emergencies,” explained Pankaj Kumar while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ “People are not habitual to responding to air sirens or what to do in case a bomb goes off. During mock drills, conducted during air raid, sirens were sounded, where the volunteers guided people to lie flat on the ground and cover their ears. The sirens are sounded to let people know as to what action they should take.

 

These sirens are part of the alert system to be used in case of an enemy attack. The Civil Defence volunteers act swiftly in such situations. They are trained in that manner,” said Pankaj Kumar. The mock drills aimed to familiarise civilians with appropriate actions during wartime emergencies. The Deputy Director of NDRF Rajesh Chaudhary advised people to take precautions in case war reaches city. He elaborated, “People are advised to keep torch with extra batteries, water bottles, non-perishable food, first aid kits, and emergency cash in case of a blackout. When blackout takes place, the civilians should not come on streets. They should not try to watch outside but sit inside their homes. The purdahs of doors and windows should be thick enough so that the dim light from inside home should not go out. Because of social media several fake news are circulated. People should not believe them and become panic. But they should keep monitoring the messages delivered by Government which they receive from time to time on their mobile phones.”