Evacuation
From Free net encyclopedia
Evacuation can have several meanings:
- In wilderness first aid, evacuation is the transport of a seriously injured person out of the wilderness to the nearest point an ambulance can reach to take them to the hospital, or to the nearest emergency room. It is first necessary to stabilize the patient prior to moving them to avoid causing further injury. Evacuation may involve carrying the victim some distance on improvised stretchers, a travois or other improvised carrying gear. See also Casualty movement.
- In bomb threats, it is usual to evacuate an area by clearing all people out and securing the perimeter, usually until the bomb squad conclude that there is no bomb, remove it, detonate it safely or dismantle it.
- In the event of a fire, or a HAZMAT incident, people in the immediate area will usually be evacuated. This may be part of a building, a whole building, an entire neighbourhood or even city if there is a radiological incident. The evacuation of a building is aided through the use of audible sirens or other alarms.
- Mass evacuations also occur where a hurricane, typhoon, or other dangerous tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall. The mass evacuation of a city is a hypothetical procedure in civil defense from nuclear terrorism or a nuclear war.
- At the start of World War II, around 3.75 million British civilians were temporarily relocated out of the major urban centres, to minimise casualties. See Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II for more details.
- In Israeli politics Evacuation refers to the forced removal of people of Jewish identity from their homes in territory handed over to Arabs, and the accompanying destruction of their property, as part of the policy of Land for Peace. A related term dating back to when Jews were exiled from Judea in 586 BCE by the Babylonians is diaspora.
- In World War II, evacuation was used as terminology to refer to the Japanese American internment.
- In physics and engineering, evacuation can refer to the removal of air to produce a partial or nearly-complete vacuum.