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The 35 Red Cross National Societies of the Americas have long
experience in disaster response, but vary greatly in their
resources and capacities. Following the severe impact of natural
disasters on the region in the late 1990s, the International
Federation created as a pilot project the Panama-based Pan
American Disaster Response Unit (PADRU), an operational
unit incorporated in the Secretariat support structure in
the Americas. PADRU's primary responsibility is to act as
the delegations' disaster response coordination arm, while
its secondary function is to contribute technical inputs to
the implementation of regional disaster preparedness programmes,
particularly in the area of preparedness for response.
Since its inception, PADRU
has developed substantial capacity in areas such as disaster
response training, telecommunications, and logistics, and
has responded (in coordination with the regional delegations)
to over 17 major international emergencies. It has been a
major force behind the development of the Regional Intervention
Team (RIT) concept in the Americas, and has pioneered innovative
response techniques such as the pre-positioning of Federation
disaster management delegates and Regional Intervention Team
members in countries threatened by hurricane strikes. PADRU
now stands at the centre of an integral Red Cross disaster
response system in the Americas, playing a pivotal role in
providing National Societies with rapid and coordinated assistance
when disasters occur.
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Disaster management
