Evacuation
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.
- 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 also 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.
- In physics and engineering, evacuation can refer to the removal of air to produce a partial or nearly-complete vacuum.