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Flexible Response

Natural hazards/disasters and man-made disasters can strike anywhere across the globe, often without warning. Whether of natural or man-made origin, these disasters are becoming increasingly frequent, extreme and complex. Moreover, they are exacerbated by the impact of climate change, ignoring national borders.

In this context, building an international Flexible Response ("Flex-R") framework and leveraging on the experience of the varied life-saving resources from the INSARAG network, can lead to a more organized, rapid, coherent and tailored response to requesting countries. This response must be based on the actual needs and request of the affected country or jurisdiction through LEMA.

Background​

"Flex-R” refers to / are activities offered /conducted by teams listed on INSARAG Directory. Operational capability is key here. Tailored contingents are deployed to meet the activities expected by LEMA or the respective authority, according to the needs of the affected country. Flex-R teams should not commence any activities without a request approval from the LEMA and have clearly defined goals. The operational responsibility belongs to LEMA, the management responsibility to the Flex-R teams.

It is noted that "Flex-R" activities are voluntary and will be determined by the existing capabilities and capacities of the deployed USAR team. It is not expected that "Flex-R" activities will be done by all USAR teams and USAR teams are not forced to structure their teams to meet the anticipated extended capabilities.

The following capabilities of USAR teams, could be deployed as an individual (specialist) or a team with its own management and logistics for "Flex-R” activities:

  • Coordination support to the UN- Mechanism (RDC, UCC, E-DACC, etc)
  • Search Expertise (Dogs and Tech Search)
  • Damage Assessment (ASR 1+2, Building Damage Assessment)
  • Additional capabilities for "Flex-R” activities, which are not currently under the INSARAG umbrella (INSARAG takes no responsibility for the quality of the response) and within scope, that could be considered include:
  • Flood response
  • Fire response (Wildfire / Forest fire / Bush fire)
  • Mountain Rescue
  • Post Event Debris clearing
  • Water purification (production of drinking water)
  • WASH expertise (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
  • Culture Heritage
  • CBRN Expertise

Guideline Appendices​

USAR teams and member countries are encouraged to follow the instructions on specific Guideline Appendices, which were developed by the Flexible Response Working Group (Sub-Working Group A, Global Position, Sub-Working GroupB, Disaster Assessment Coordination Center, Sub-Working Group C, Cultural Heritage) for "Flex-R” capacity building and activities implementation.

Concept Paper of INSARAG FRWG-Global Position: This appendix document provides a way forward for the flexible response concept. It also recommends adopting or developing standards for these new capabilities so that the reputation and recognised quality that INSARAG has become renown for is maintained. The ISARAG Steering Group (ISG) endorses the concept of developing additional modular capabilities that can be added to member’s USAR teams as outlined in this concept paper. ISG notes that in endorsing, further work will be undertaken to subsequently prioritise and separately endorse each new additional capability (initial but not exhaustive list of potential capabilities included). Requirements, guidelines, and extension of classification processes would be required for each of these teams to utilize their new capabilities under the INSARAG umbrella. The first priority will be the adoption of flood response/water rescue. A new working group (Flood Response Gorking group) has been established to commence work on standards, guidelines and implementation.

The ISG endorses the establishment of a register of INSARAG USAR teams that will “opt in” to the provision of “Beyond the Rubble”, Flex-R, and additional capabilities. These capabilities will be matched to requests for assistance by the INSARAG Secretariat on a bilateral basis during the period that formalisation of the above endorsed changes are developed. To register an interim additional capability the member state, via their INSARAG Policy and Operational Focal Point, will need to identify the national authority and standard that capability meets.

The ISG 2023 endorses the dissolution of the Sub-working Group – Global Position, and thanks its members for its work.

USAR & Cultural Heritage​

The USAR & Cultural Heritage Technical Reference is designed to provide USAR teams, LEMA, Cultural Ministries, Heritage Departments and Authorities (CHA), and Cultural Heritage First Aiders (CFA) with procedures to follow when carrying out operations at heritage sites that become a special operational environment following a disaster.

More on the Concept Paper of INSARAG FRWG-Global Position and E-DACC can be found in the Technical Reference Library on www.insarag.org