Rapid assessment and disaster response: What are the coordination challenges?
How can coordination between the key actors at the social, national and international levels be improved? (Focus on the Bam earthquake, Iran)
• Iranian Red Crescent response to Bam earthquake
- Alert and Early Measures
- Search, Rescue and Transfer of the Injured
- Relief and Logistics
- Emergency Shelter and Relief Distribution
- Medical Services
- Coordination of International Assistance
- Media and Communication
- Transit to Temporary Relief and Shelter and to long term recovery
• Alert and Early Measures
- 11:30 - 25/12/03, earthquake measuring 4 (R.S) hit Bam
- 04:25 -26/12/03, earthquake measuring 4.5 ( R.S) hit Bam
- 05.28 - 26/12/2003 earthquake measuring 6.3 (R.S) hit Bam
- 05:30 IRCS Kerman Province informed the IRCS headquarters in Tehran of the disaster
- 05:35 IRCS Bam branch started the assessment of the situation and rescue operation with 3 staff and 50 volunteers. 4 staff of IRCS Bam branch lost in disaster
- 05:45 Telephone Communication between the IRCS and Geophysics Institute for details of the earthquake
- 05.55 Contact and coordination between the IRCS and Government of Iran in Kerman and Tehran
- 06:00 IRCS announces emergency situation in its all 340 branches in Iran, Rescue and relief teams deployed from Kerman to Bam
- 07:03 Official announcement of the earthquake by Tehran Geophysics Institute
- 07:45 Arrival of the IRCS Rescue and Relief Teams from Kerman to Bam ( 180 km road)
- 08:30 IRCS Disaster Task Force in Tehran, and Operation Centre in Bam established
- 12:00 Result of IRCS early assessment suggesting the need for national and international appeal was communicated to National Task Force
- 14:00 The initial information and the request for International Appeal was communicated to IFRC. The request included support for 40,000 families.
- Iran formally requested international assistance for Bam
- IFRC issued Information Bulletin and Preliminary Appeal respectively on 26 December 2003.
• Lessons learned:
- Pre- disaster measures such as Disaster Management plans, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) and Risk Reduction have great impact on the quality of rapid assessment and whole operation:
- National and local disaster management plans
- Coordination of various sectors in the DM plan
- Prior knowledge such as information on geography, demography, geology, and social infrastructure of the region
- Availability and accuracy of information on the capacity and vulnerability of the local community prior to disaster in national and international levels
• The role of local community in DM plan, local infrastructure, volunteers, families, etc
- The IRCS network of branches in whole region contributed to quick access to the affected population and to key information for relief operation
- Role of volunteers in providing key information on city and its population
• Disasters have different impact in different contexts; there is need for assessment tools and mechanisms which are compatible to different situations. In Bam case:
- city located in remote area, transportation and communication facilities heavily damaged
- disaster happened in winter time, early morning on Friday,
- buildings were very traditional and old
- the social infrastructure and administration damaged severely, led to lack of local coordination and management mechanisms
- local resources ( human and material) heavily damaged, so access to information on population and affected area became very difficult
- pre- disaster knowledge on social and cultural aspects of the affected population plays a key role in successful assessment of the damages and needs
• A successful rapid assessment should be an inclusive process
- it should include all pre and post disaster knowledge
- it should include available local, national and international means
- it should include different phases of an emergency situation
- it should include different situations in each phase of the emergency
- it should include different needs caused by a disaster
- it should take all available tools and resources into consideration
- it should identify different actual and potential resources available in local level
- it should identify the impact of the external intervention on different social, political and economic aspects of the affected community
- it should include most desired quality of information such as timeliness, relevance and accuracy
• Coordination in rapid assessment
- The quality of coordination in conducting assessment and communicating its outcome will have immediate and long term impact on the effectiveness of the operation and recovery of the affected population
- To avoid confusion and complexity in response to disasters, assessment process should be managed in best way, and its outcome should be shared in a most consistent way
- There should be a good level of understanding between different actors in assessment in local, national and international levels, on the appropriate process and tools of assessment, expected results, and eventual use of the outcome of assessment
- A well coordinated assessment is possible only through a well coordinated cooperation of all actors in disaster response. Therefore, assessment process should be planned and implemented in the context of operational cooperation between the humanitarian actors
- Diversity of visions, methods and resources in understanding the disaster and it impact is desirable, but in emergency situation there is need for adequate consistency of assessment.