…you got a big heavy truck with a bunch of troops in it. If it’s soft (ground), or it’s been eroded because of the water, you definitely have to watch that [P11]

…we’ve internalised a safety culture, and we understand taking risks [P6]

…for infantrymen, just their basic DP1, development period one, that goes over the basic things they need. So being able to work hard. Being able to work long hours. Being able to handle the field […] use hand tools, filling sandbags, moving things from A to B [P14]

When we started, we had absolutely no PPE [P13]

Everything else went pretty good. In the town, the OC and the Sergeant Major linked in pretty close to the fire department guys [P10]

…we would decide our plan for the next day with the civilian emergency response unit. We’d decide which fire stations, which were kind of sandbagging places and hubs of all the activity, we’d decide with them, where we were going to go, what was the highest priority, and I would assign sections…[P2]

I know we got down there right quick. We had our area put together right quick. I know the guys were right into their job. The next day there was not wait time. Everyone moved really smoothly [P11]

We would wait usually a pretty long time to find out if […] what EMO had for us, or what type of updates they had [P14]

When/where to use PPE/tools: In all the operations I’ve done, equipment has never really been a concern….Sometimes, there was delays […] we can just do other tasks, while we’re waiting for that kind of equipment to show up [P5]

So, from what I understood, at that lower level, was there was good communication… [P7]

…if you have to ask questions, you’re asking the right kind. You’re not just being some staff guy that has no idea what’s going on, but you’re talking to the right person, so that they understand that. And that’s really at all levels too [P4]

Definitely communicating, because regardless of where we go, if you don’t speak the language […] I’m not going to be able to communicate effectively [P3]

Typically, we have the ability to work people pretty hard. We balance it by not working them very hard, when they don’t need to be worked hard [P14]

I have to make sure that all the soldiers that are deployed […] are taken care of. They have all their medical needs met. They’re all being fed. They’re being housed. [I am concerned with:] (a) how my boys were doing, because I am their supervisor and I need to look after their well-being, and (b) what the feel was from each of the volunteer fire departments that we were working with and making sure that their worries and concerns were addressed [P2]

n/a

So, what do we do when we need chain sawing on scale?…We basically end up with a train the trainer […] We line up a bunch of soldiers, and we say this is how to safely use a chainsaw [P6]

We were in that frame of mind where we can get into it, we’ve done that before. We know how to fill sandbags. We can get from point A to point B, filling Zodiac assault boats with sandbags [P12]

…the people that were fit were able to pace themselves better and have fewer injuries [P8]

…there’s definitely people that were on that operation, that had succumbed to many injuries, or fatigue a lot sooner than other soldiers, because of a lack of fitness [P7]

I’ve never experienced security guards being the victim of violence, but normally police and/or security, and/or city workers are normally berated every now and then by someone who is quite upset, who’s had a long, hard day. It’s understandable [P9]

They knew the stress we were coming upon each day [P12]

Canadians’ ability to adjust and adapt quickly is something that, no matter what service you’re in in the CAF, it just […] it’s taught to you so quickly in your career. [P1]