Organising the First Coordination Meeting after a Disaster

Transcription

1 Organising the First Coordination Meeting after a Disaster As soon as a disaster occurs agencies both local and international rush to provide support. The government will be swamped with requests for information and offers of assistance. In most cases, governments try to get control over this initial chaos by calling all interested parties to attend a coordination meeting. These meetings may occur more or less simultaneously at several levels national, provincial and local. The first meeting is usually chaired by the government agency leading the response and it has 3 main objectives: 1. To provide key information to the actors and partners; 2. To document the intentions, capacities and resources of all the actors and partners; (including anticipated stand down targets/dates for all agencies). 3. To define and agree next steps for the coordination, organisation and management of the response at local and national level. At the start of a meeting, the following inputs are needed from national authorities: 1. A detailed small scale map of the affected area showing the distribution of the event, the exposed communities and the location of key infrastructure, utilities, services and resources. 2. A short briefing document covering the national emergency response arrangements, the structure of government agencies and systems at all levels and mentioning key national legal/policy/technical issues that may be relevant. 3. A short statement of current information on the extent of the problem, the damages and losses, the needs of the population and the requirements of local authorities to meet those needs. Medium term weather forecasts and similar relevant information can also be given. A provisional estimate of needs, by location if possible (based on the expectations from previous events and pre-event profiling, with data validated or amended as reports are received from the field). The next step is to document current gaps and overlaps in relief services and resources. This involves asking around the table to state their areas of work, the geographical areas where they intend to work and the resources they are mobilising for the emergency. The products of this session will be completion of tables 1, 2 and 3 (below). For operational coordination, sub committees should be formed to coordinate inputs and activities in key areas e.g. search and rescue, water, sanitation, health, shelter, social services etc. The subgroups are open to all agencies active in that area of work and should be chaired by lead government agency in that sector and vice-chaired by an elected member of the group. At the first meeting, members should set joint goals and objectives for the sector for short and medium term, and should consider joint reporting. At subsequent meetings, the first agenda item is to update the information below, before going on to discussions on specific issues and problems (at some point, relief agencies leaving or closing operations will create gaps that need to be met). These meetings should normally be attended by chairs and vice-chairs of the subgroups.

2 Planning scenarios 2/5 Table 1: resources by area of work/sector Mapping of Gaps and Overlaps Areas of work/sector A Overview of national arrangements B 1. national legislation 2. national co-ordination bodies, command systems and SOP for Operations Rooms 3. national administrative procedures (finance, personnel, procurement) national logistics arrangements (communications, transport, warehouses) 5. security arrangements 6. customs and visa arrangements 7. role of the media 8. role and regulation of NGO (domestic and foreign) 9. role of the military (domestic and foreign) 10.policy on accepting foreign donations (cash / materials) 11.role of commercial/private sector 12.role of professional associations 13.role and regulation of international assistance (registration, qualifications of staff, ethics) Intersectoral damage analysis and needs assessment (DANA)

3 Planning scenarios 3/5 Areas of work C Immediate Care 1. search and rescue 2. evacuation 3. first aid/triage transport of victims 5. trauma/primary care 6. victim identification and reporting system D Health Sector 1. emergency health reporting system 2. curative care/hospitals/ special units/referrals 3. injury, disease, water quality, nutritional status and disability surveillance DEP, VBD, VPD, DPHS control 5. laboratories/blood banks 6. medical supplies/essential drugs 7. environmental health/water quality 8. recovery of PHC (EPI, MCH, CDD, ARI etc) 9. food safety and nutrition 10.orthotics, prosthetics, dental and disability care

4 Planning scenarios 4/5 Areas of work E Inter-sectoral Activities 1. emergency shelter 2. water supply 3. food supply and food security energy 5. protection and security 6. forensics, mortuaries and management of the dead 7. social and welfare services, including management of the missing 8. staff protection, staff insurance, occupational health and discipline 9. public information and public education F Other areas 1. recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation (education, agriculture etc.) 2. information, research and documentation services 3. post-event evaluation community risk reduction programmes

5 Planning scenarios 5/5 Table 2: Resources by location Geographical Area A Province A 1. city 1 2. district 2 3. village 3 B Province B 1. city 1 2. district 2 3. village 3 Local Government Counterpart Participating agencies (donor, Table 3: Resources by items Items by sector A Health 1. medicines 2. equipment 3. staff B Food Supply 1. food items 2. household utensils 3. fuel Government Participating agencies (donor,