Volume 5: Issue 4 - Sept 2009
The September issue of Crisis Response Journal covers a wide range of international disasters and incidents, written by leading authorities in their fields of expertise
INCIDENT REPORTS
Viareggio rail accident – Train crash LPG blaze Italy
Chief Giuseppe Romano describes the derailment and subsequent fire involving 14 LPG wagons near Viareggio in Tuscany, Italy. Fire teams faced difficult scenarios: on the north side of the railway, buildings were alight, with approximately 200 metres of flames on both sides of the road; trees in a small children’s park were alight, as well as bushes, cars and a liquid tanker. Firefighters had to rescue people trapped in their houses by the flames, as well as victims in collapsed buildings.
Mutual aid at derailment
When a freight train carrying ethanol left the track between Cherry Valley and Rockford in Illinois, USA, a massive fire ensued, says Chief Craig Wilt. Command called in mutual aid using the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System to help deal with the incident, the largest in the history of the Cherry Valley Fire Protection District. Had these strong mutual aid arrangements not been in place, tried and tested regularly, it would have been very difficult to handle an incident of this kind.
Cruise ship flu challenge
As governments and health experts around the world grappled with the outbreak of H1N1 influenza – or swine flu – authorities in Australia faced an interesting challenge earlier this year, reports Jonathon Hall
FEATURES
Exercise Northstar VII
Singapore’s Police Force tells CRJ that the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 were a wake-up call to defence forces the world over and formed the basis of its latest exercise. Exercise Northstar VII, a multi-agency operation, tested and validated the contingency plans and operational readiness of Singapore’s emergency response forces, but also served to raise public awareness and boost citizen confidence.
Investing for stability
Francis J Skorbiszewski examines the links between economic stability and societal security and resilience, arguing that rapid bottom-up investment, targeting small businesses, is a proven tool in managing social risk.
Dealing with the dead
One of the less-discussed problems stemming from the current swine flu pandemic is that posed by space – or the lack of it – whether this be space to store the deceased before cremation or burial, or to accommodate extra capacity for beds in hospitals. Emily Hough provides an international overview of differing opinions and plans on how to cope with an increasing surge of victims in a rising tide disaster, such as a worst-case scenario pandemic. Worryingly, some authorities appear to have become so entangled in the process aspects of managing a sudden surge of fatalities, that they have lost sight of the respectful ethos necessary when dealing with the deceased and the bereaved. In declaring that they are prepared to ‘fast-track’ the process, foregoing funerals, and are considering mass or unmarked graves, they are in danger of storing up long term community problems. They need to be reminded of the deleterious impact of such policies on long-term societal recovery and emotional resilience of communities, not to mention any legal implications regarding funeral or other types of death insurance.
Towards a safer society
Dennis Davis investigates the movement towards harmonised use of military, paramilitary, police and counterinsurgency forces and the more benign services of emergency healthcare, firefighting, rescue, technical recovery and community support. He says that current concepts of preparedness and response need to move towards pre-and post-mitigation of predictable and unpredictable consequence management, where the ability to think through the crisis is the critical tool.
Terror attacks on trains
Passenger and cargo transportation security has been a hot topic for decades and concerns about security in this arena began well before the era of ‘new terrorism’ says Lina Kolesnikova, who adds that the large number of stakeholders involved in securing rail transport leads to communication problems, duplication of efforts and misunderstanding of responsibilities. Rail authorities must evaluate their ability to react to emergencies and to revisit elements of critical infrastructure and possible effects of their disruption on other infrastructure.
Enterprise risk management for pandemic flu
No individual or organisation is immune to the effects of pandemic influenza which, Booz Allen Hamilton says, is the new challenge for enterprise risk management.
Pandemic planning
As communities gear up for increasing numbers of pandemic flu cases, Robert Jensen and Kelly Amoroso look into preparation guidelines for mass fatality plans
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Man vs the machine
Advancing technology can be baffling, but used in the right way, it might just save your business during a crisis, says Richard Fitzhugh, who says that although technology will never replace sound training, good planning and crisis management skills, but it can enable them.
CBRN Tools of the trade
With the London 2012 Olympics to prepare for, Andy Oppenheimer outlines the innovations in UK first responders’ tools of the trade, as well as looking at training and exercises.
International USAR team classification system
In June 2009, the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue team became the first Urban Search and Rescue team to be reclassified under the United Nations’ INSARAGE External Classification System. Peter Crook explains how the UK worked with INSARAG to develop a reclassification process that would be more flexible and compact than the initial external classification system, and how the outcome of this pilot reclassification process will contribute to a significant enhancement of the overall process.
Testing wartime response
Adi Moncaz describes Israel’s third Turning Point National Emergency Exercise, which revolved around different scenarios reflecting low and high intensity conflicts.
The changing face of wildfires
As we enter a new era of mega-fires, Marc Castellnou i Ribau and Marta Miralles Bover describe a change in thoughts on wildfire management, saying it will take a courageous approach to strike matches and light fires early in the season in order to strengthen the prevention aspect in the fire management system, but that it is now time to think of the big picture.
Volunteers to clean up
As an appreciation for the sensitivity of cleaning up after disasters increased, Jay Levinson recalls how NGOs grew to meet the demands of this role.
Kuwait Fire and Rescue
The Kuwait Fire Service Directorate’s international fire and safety conference – organised together with the UK Fire Service College –went a lot further than providing delegates with essential developments in fire and rescue, says Emily Hough.
Keywords: Kuwait Fire Services Department, civil protection, Fire Service College
Promoting community resilience to crisis
Henry Makiwa examines the Red Cross and EC’s latest online-based initiative to tackle risks and hazards.
For full article click here
Decontamination developments
Decontamination is a vital part of the co-ordinated response to a CBRN incident. Mike Hall of Hughes Safety Showers looks at developments in specialist shelters.
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Living up to the promise
With a thorough system for product testing, WL Gore assures customers that only the best performing textiles and manufacturers will make the grade.
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Finnish high-flyer
CRJ focuses on Jyrki Koski, the man behind Creowave – a rapidly-growing company in radio frequency and microwave electronics.
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Psychological stabilisation
Erik de Soir and Koen Goffings say that emergency medical staff, rescue personnel and fire services may be the most underestimated actors in preventing psychological trauma during extrication operations. In this article, they describe how a firefighter-paramedic, certified in emergency crisis response and advanced psychological support, can provide emergency medical and psychological stabilisation to victims trapped in a vehicle after a motor vehicle accident. Such treatment, their preliminary research shows, helps to reduce Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Hydraulic tools in technical rescue
Brendon Morris of Holmatro looks a the ways in which hydraulic tool usage has changed in rescue situations and at the variety of equipment now available.
For full article click here
Fighting the floods
Flooding, perhaps more than any other natural hazard, manifests as a major challenge for all nations and their emergency service organisations, says Greg Slater, who says that sharing lessons on flooding and contributing to invaluable forums are vital in shaping future steps to be taken by stakeholders and the community.
Breaking lab habits
As highlighted by a new DVD, Response to Illicit Drug Labs, drug-related hazards – including unsafe materials, explosive environments, toxic atmospheres and booby traps – present a danger to all emergency responders. This article outlines the processes used in making amphetamines and methamphetamines, symptoms of meth users and a detailed description of the hazards and precautions that must be taken to mitigate them when operating at such scenes.
For more information, visit www.efilmgroup.com
Lessons learned
J L Smither of Lessons Learned Information Sharing, gives an insight into the projects aimed at increasing emergency preparedness outreach in the community
J L Smither is Outreach and Partnerships Manager for Lessons Learned Information Sharing, the US Department of Homeland Security’s network of lessons learned, best practices and innovative ideas for the emergency response and homeland security communities.
A forum for civil protection
Pia Bucella says that the EC Civil Protection Mechanism’s third Forum will debate how to build and strengthen disaster resilience across Member States.
Wake-up call for the world
Dr Patrick Lagadec interviews Joshua Cooper Ramo who, in his new book, questions why we blindly follow the old course of making minor adjustments to current policies and incremental changes to institutions that are already collapsing. Joshua Cooper Ramo is Managing Director and youngest partner at Kissinger Associates, one of the world’s leading strategic advisory firms. Prior to joining this company, he served both as a Foreign Editor and Assistant Managing Editor of Time magazine and was an international affairs analyst for CNN. He also served as China analyst for NBC during the Beijing 2008 Olympics. His new book, the Age of the Unthinkable, is published by Little, Brown and Company