Effective cooperation between first responders and emergency services

In an emergency, timing, communication, and collaboration are crucial. Emergency response personnel (BHVs) are often the first on the scene, but as soon as the fire department, ambulance, or police arrive, a smooth handover is crucial. How do you ensure smooth collaboration between BHVs and professional emergency services? And what role does technology play in this? In this blog post, you'll learn how preparation, coordination, and smart systems make all the difference.

Emergency Response: first link in the chain

Emergency response officers are trained to bridge the first minutes of an incident: limit fire, Providing first aid, evacuate, and alert. But their role doesn't end when emergency services arrive. In fact, they play a key role even then. They are often the first to provide insight into the situation and ensure a quick and clear handover to the emergency services. They provide information about what has happened, where victims are located, what measures have already been taken, and where potential risks lie.

A good handover means clear communication, factual information, and staying calm. And that requires preparation.

Make collaboration concrete in your emergency response policy

Collaboration with emergency services should not be improvisational. Therefore, put in your emergency response plan solid:

• Who receives the emergency services?
• Where are the floor plans, keys, and shutoff valves?
• Who will give the first briefing?
• Which first responder will guide the fire brigade or ambulance to the correct location?

Practice this actively tooBy training together you get to know each other.

Do you work in a shared building? Arrange it together

In buildings where multiple organizations are located, collaboration can become more complex. Who does what during an evacuation? How many first aiders Are they available? And who bears what responsibility?

There are several possible forms of collaboration:

1. Each employer arranges its own emergency response team, with mutual warning agreements.
2. Joint emergency response organization, with division of people, resources and costs.
3. A central evacuation organization, with decentralized emergency response per tenant.

Whatever you choose, record it in a collaboration agreement, tailored to the RI&E.

Practice, evaluate, adjust

Drills aren't a formality, but a foundation. Plan a realistic evacuation drill annually, preferably involving external emergency services. By practicing:

• Train first responders in their tasks and communication
• Are bottlenecks in the evacuation plan visible?
• Also teach other employees how to act

Use tools like tabletop exercises or extras for added impact. Note who's participating and capture learning points. This way, the organization continues to learn.

BHV Button: technology that connects overview and action

Smart technology plays a crucial role in handling emergency situations safely and quickly. BHV-Knop.nl therefore offers a complete call system that gives your emergency response organization overview, speed and coordination - and thus also helps emergency services get on their way immediately.

Thanks to the combination of presence detection, location-based alarming and direct communication, structure is created from the very first second.

• Present first responders are automatically recognized via the app or kiosk
• The notification comes in via app or telephone – including acoustic signal or spoken message
• The dashboard immediately shows where the incident takes place
• Emergency response team members can communicate with each other and confirm their efforts

This way, everyone knows who's coming, where the incident is happening, and what to do. And once emergency services arrive, the information is shared clearly and completely.

In summary: preparation builds confidence

Effective collaboration between first responders and emergency services isn't something that just happens. It requires clear agreements, joint training, and smart support. Whether you're in a large company or working with other tenants, safety is something you organize together.

With BHV-Knop.nl you not only have a complete emergency response system, but also a solid foundation for collaboration with the fire brigade, ambulance service, and police.