Reuters
Sept 29 2004

Search and rescue ‘listings’ planned to save lives
29 Sep 2004

Source: AlertNet
By Nick Cater

German rescuers search with their dogs through the rubble of Bam.
File photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY
LONDON (AlertNet) – When a devastating earthquake hit the Iranian
city of Bam last December, some 1,600 would-be rescuers and relief
staff from 46 countries swarmed to the scene. But most arrived long
after survivors had been pulled from the rubble by relatives,
neighbours or local emergency teams.

Ten months on, disaster experts are suggesting a novel way to improve
the effectiveness of initial international disaster response –
classify search and rescue teams by equipment and skills to help get
the right teams in the right places when disaster strikes.

The idea was proposed at a late-September meeting in Singapore of
senior experts from the inter-governmental International Search and
Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), the first global conference on the
issue of search and rescue (SAR) since the Bam earthquake killed
31,000 people.

While some experts suggest Bam was exceptional, with many Western
countries wanting to be seen to send assistance to politically
sensitive Iran, a review of the disaster by the Pan American Health
Organisation noted that Bam was a reminder that the majority of
international SAR teams are unable to reach the scene fast enough to
make a major difference.

The classification proposal would divide international SAR teams into
three listings based on their level of equipment, skills, experience
and thus suitability for various types and intensity of disaster,
from a single building’s collapse to an earthquake in a modern city
with many trapped alive.

Founded in 1991 in the wake of the Armenian earthquake, INSARAG
operates under the United Nations umbrella to foster information
exchange, higher standards, cooperation and coordination, with its
secretariat provided by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

As head of the OCHA Emergency Services Branch’s Field Coordination
Support Section, Arjun Katoch leads the secretariat. He said
classification would help vital decision-making and get work started
faster.

LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY

“We aim to classify teams by their capacity – light, medium or heavy
– so after a disaster, the country affected and any experts on the
ground can assess the situation and say what resources are needed so
only the right teams with the required skills and equipment turn up,”
he told AlertNet.

But with the World Conference on Disaster Reduction planned for
January 2005 in the Japanese city of Kobe and a preparatory session
in Geneva in October, SAR teams also face calls for far greater
priority to be given to preparedness, such as extra resources for
national emergency networks and training for local volunteers in
crisis-prone countries.

There are different tasks to be tackled, said Katoch.

“International and local teams are completely different. At no point
does any international team think that it can be a substitute for
local people, who clearly do most of the work, especially in the
first 24 hours. Because of their equipment and skills, international
teams would always focus on more difficult and specialist tasks, such
as those trapped deep under rubble.

“Training of local teams to enhance capacity is already underway
through regional INSARAG meetings and training exercises. We’ve had
recent training in Bogata and Manila. The next events will be in
Kathmandu and Australia. But not all countries can afford the teams
or the training they would like.”

With topics as diverse as satellite imagery, use of dogs and
confined-space medicine, the Singapore conference agenda emphasized
how SAR operations draw on a range of skills and equipment.

One example is the use of the Internet to create a virtual on-site
operations centre, through which all those involved in a disaster –
including governments, local authorities and rescue teams – can share
information and plan their response together.

The INSARAG chairman for its Africa-Europe region, Kjell Larsson,
head of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency’s International
Department, said it was very important that international teams were
complementary to existing efforts, avoided duplication and helped
develop local skills.

“International teams do have a valuable role because they can come
with the kind of specialist equipment and skills not needed every day
but vital in particular situations,” he said.

“Search and rescue teams are interested in training but donors are
rarely willing to sponsor this until after a disaster. There were
lots of initiatives in Turkey after its series of earthquakes. Now
the country has nine main search and rescue groups, each trained by a
different international team.”

And he warned: “Chaos is possible if groups that are not part of
INSARAG deploy even before being asked, and are not coordinated with
the rest of the operation.”

Larsson described classification as a “useful move, as it could allow
those most needed to get priority at arriving airports, for example.
The classification will help specify what is required from among the
elements available, such as search, rescue, medical, management and
communications.”