How to act in the event of accidents - emergency procedures
In case of landmines accident, you are advised to do the following:
Stay calm! Do not rush to the victim.
The two most likely ways you will discover that you are in a mined area are either that there is an explosion, or that you see a mine or mine sign. If someone has been injured, you should not rush in to help, as you will endanger yourself and others around you. If you find yourself in a minefield, stay calm and follow these rules:
- Stop! And stop any movement immediately. Remain still and do not move your feet.
- Inform and warn the people around you. Call for help, but keep others away.
- Note the area. What else can you see: mines, tripwires, mine signs? Visually locate the nearest safe area: the last place you knew you were on a safe surface, such as a paved road, well used path, concrete or steel structure.
- Evaluate your course of action. Be prepared to take control.
- Do not move, if there is no indication of a safe area, or you can’t reach it without stepping on unknown ground. Wait for help to arrive.
Talk to the victim; warn them not to move; advise how to self-administer first aid; advise that help is on its way.
Doing this may be helpful if the injured is not unconscious, it also helps him/her to remain calm until help comes. If the injured person is able to move, tell him/her how to do some First Aid Steps like stop bleeding.
Note time and location and the number of injured people.
Doing so facilitates the process of calling for help and reporting landmines area and helps to make them more accurate.
Call for help. Arrange for both clearance assistance and medical evacuation.
Be careful of non-specialists offering to help. They may be unaware of the full extent of the danger, or overconfident in the limited knowledge they may have. People will sometimes take unacceptable risks to rescue an injured person.
If no help is available, prodding ground is used to exit a mined area, by locating safe ground on which to walk to a safe area.
By prodding ground with a knife or other similar object, locate ground free of mines. Prodding is an extremely difficult, prolonged and risky technique. Prodding must be taken very seriously and carefully. It demands a very thorough knowledge of mine detection methods and mine types. Prodding should only be considered if you are in a mined area and no help is available or an individual has been injured and cannot get out of a minefield and no other help is available.
Once the victim is brought to safe ground, you should administer emergency first aid.
If there are no medical personnel immediately available, you have to follow the First Aid Steps to save the life of the injured person.
