RescueRanger
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It has been 18 hours or so since the collapse of a multi occupancy building in Karachi, the heart of the economic capital of Pakistan. Despite 14 years passing since the 2005 earthquake and despite numerous international experts injecting knowledge, capacity development and donation of expensive specialist equipment, there is still a lack of a uniform, coordinated effort when responding to complex rescue operations in Pakistan.
The mismanagement of information, the lack of cordons, the lack of leadership all this impacts not only the impact on public safety, it impacts the initial rescue operation, the risk of secondary collapses, compounded by stampedes or lack of access for emergency vehicles and image management comes into play.
Without a lack of coordination and uniformity the message to the media is not unified, not informed and damages public perception and trust in our emergency service capacity and this is why having a well structured, uniform incident command system is vital.
What is an Incident Command System:
As with most things in modern disaster management disciplines, the ICS was developed in response to the many deaths and massive property damage caused by wildfires in the western U.S. in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Studies found that rather than a lack of resources or a failure of tactics, ineffective disaster response was more often due to communication and deficiencies in organisational structure.
ICS has since been incorporated as part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. NIMS is a comprehensive national approach to incident management that is applicable at all jurisdictional levels and across functional disciplines where federal funding is involved.
In the event of a disaster, leadership for emergency management is assumed and maintained by local government officials. However, due to differences between the structures of the many provinces, federal, and other response agencies involved in response and recovery efforts, a standardised system for communication, command, and control is required.
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardised hierarchical structure that allows for a cooperative response by multiple agencies, both within and outside of government, to organise and coordinate response activities without compromising the decision-making authority of local command. ICS ensures that the most pressing needs are met, and that precious resources are used without duplication or waste.
The Role of ICS
The primary role of ICS is to establish planning and management functions for responding partners to work in a coordinated and systematic approach. These functions can include:
- using common terminology
- integrating communication media,
- creating a unified command structure,
- coordinating resource management and allocation, and planning.
Unified Command
Unified Command within ICS is used when there is a multi-agency response during a large disaster. Unified Command allows for the integration of local, state, and federal agencies to operate under one overall management structure with greater authority.
ICS functions are performed in a facility called the Command Center or Operations Center from which emergency management operations are conducted.
ICS Management Systems
- The Command Section is responsible for developing, directing, and maintaining communication and collaboration with the multiple agencies on site, and working with the local officials, the public, and the media to provide up-to-date information regarding the disaster.
- The Operations Section handles tactical operations, coordinates the command objectives, and organises and directs all resources to the disaster site.
- The Planning Section provides the necessary information to the Command Center to develop the action plan that will accomplish the objectives. They also collect and evaluate information as it is made available.
- The Logistics Section provides personnel, equipment, and support for the Command Center. They handle the coordination of all services involved in the response, from locating rescue equipment to coordinating the response for volunteer organisations.
- The Finance Section is responsible for accounting for funds used during the response and recovery aspect of the disaster. They monitor costs related to the incident and provide accounting analyses.
According to the incident command system, the Incident Commander (IC) is the first person, who is trained and experienced, who takes control of the situation on the ground at site of an emergency or disaster. In this accord, seniority, rank or grades do not matter.
The IC has the overall authority at incident or emergency event. They directly control the operations and are responsible for development of objectives early in the disaster response. The IC also delegates authorities and responsibilities to personnel who directly or indirectly report to the IC.
The IC wears a vest or jacket with the initials Incident Commander inscribed on it to identify his or her role and authority.
In the circumstances that prevailed in the aftermath of the building collapse, the incident commander (IC) leading the rescue of the seven trapped personnel should ideally have been a qualified, trained person, who was authoritative and assumed the role of a leader.
Media Management:
One of the most important personnel on the ICS team is a Public Liaison Officer (PLO), whose role is to release information to the media. The PLO should be appointed early in the response to deal with the mass media and provide the information the media will need to accurately report the status of the incident and the response to it. The PLO and his team establish a media area that is safe and does not impede with the operations. Hence, the officials busy in the live handling of the response to the disaster are not forced to leave their work and speak to the media.
Coordination with other agencies:
The Liaison Officer reports directly to the IC. His or her duty is to communicate and coordinate with other supporting agencies, units and organisations during the disaster. These could include the police, rangers, armed forces, government rescue agencies, ambulances and paramedics.
Another extremely crucial role is that of the Safety Officer who is responsible for the safety of the personnel and ensures safe working conditions.
Analysing the response to the collapse of the building in Karachi, how can we describe our agencies’ response to the attack and what ideally should have been done?
Was there an incident commander at the site of the rescue operation? The answer is – no, there were many commanders leading the rescue operation from the front, which resulted in an extremely uncoordinated rescue effort. The resources such as fire tenders, cranes, bulldozers and lifters were called in from different organisations with their representatives present on the site directing them. This resulted in individual effort and resulted in a lack of teamwork.
As a result, there were serious delays in getting to the trapped victims.
During disaster management, one of the major obstacles faced in Pakistan is how to handle the television and print media. The media wants to cover the event live and this inevitably lands them in the line of fire. Crime reporters, cameramen, anchor persons and journalists rush to the incident site. This not only exposes them to dangers, but also impedes rescue work.
The media personnel in their bid to get the best shot often also destroy evidence and disrupt the crime scene. However, safety of their lives should be the utmost priority and any action that threatens their safety should be avoided.
The Incident Commander is responsible for setting up cordons which are known as Hot, Warm and Cold Zones. Hot zones are where rescue operations are underway, warm zones are for equipment, standby teams, command and control, medical tents and transports, cold zones are for liaison officers such as the PLO.
Beyond these three zones you have holding areas where the press and members of public can be briefed, that way maintaining the integrity of the scene, the safety of the searchers, the victims, any potential evidence and safeguarding against secondary casualties.
The IC also sets up a common approach path used to ferry staff, equipment and victims in/out of the scene.
[Image: This diagram shows an example of a full cordon during an emergency operation]
Why is time so critical in Search operations?
In Urban Search and Rescue operations, there is a principal known as the "Golden Day", this is the first 24 hours of the incident. The greatest number of victims will be found on the first day (80/90%) and can be categorised as follows.
Injured, not trapped: There also are known as "surface victims" and usually account for about 50 percent of all victims. Injuries usually are caused by falling debris and by the victims hitting the ground. Rescues of this type are normally made by neighbours, coworkers, relatives and other civilians.
Nonstructural entrapment: These are also known as "light rescue" and usually account for 30 percent of all victims. Rescue involves locating the victim and lifting building contents or small pieces of debris. Personnel should be able to recognise the unique hazards associated with the collapse of light-frame construction. Rescue usually are made by trained community Urban Search and Rescue Teams or first emergency responders.
Structural entrapment/entombed victims: These are victims of the collapse that have been heavily trapped or entombed in the collapse, this type of rescue is extremely complicated and requires specialist teams that are able to stabilise the collapsed structure, utilise specialist search equipment and use tools to cut, breach, break or burn through the structure to access voids where the victim may be located. These types of rescue operations are almost always carried out by Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Teams.
Time of Day:
If arriving during daylight hours, teams should use available sunlight to prepare fort he duration of the operation. Diagrams of the area to be searches should be prepared, sectioning off of danger areas and pooling of necessary resources. The Incident Commander should try to visualise everything necessary for a 24-hour operation. Nighttime operations require lighting systems and added safety precautions due to reduced visibility.
Building Use:
The potential for building collapse exists in every community. The Incident Commander and Safety Officer should determine the search priorities in terms of the types of occupations affected. Those that present the highest likelihood of surviviablity (in terms of type of construction) and the number of potential victims (in terms of the type of occupancy of the building) would receive attention first, i.e., schools, hospitals, nursing homes, high rise and multiresidential, etc.
Number of Occupants:
The incident Commander at the initial stage should use available information resources to arrive at the actual number of building occupants (as close as possible) to determine search priorities.
Number of trapped victims and location:
Victim location identification includes: visual, canine, electronic and physical search operations. It is important to concentrate efforts where there are known victims and where possible victims are most likely to be found. Marking the exact location with international orange spray point or orange surveyors' tape denotes the location of viable victims:
[Image: This image shows an example of the international victim location marking used in search and rescue, the paint used is always orange, and standard English phrases for ease of understanding. The searching team will mark the location of a victim by using V stands for Victim, L=Live 1= number of victims, Arrow shows the direction of location of the victim]
Rescue operations already underway:
It is essential that every possible method be employed to locate viable victims before committing rescue resources to any prolonged (although well-intentioned) operation. Body recovery is not the primary mission of a search and rescue team. The first phase is prioritising the locations of trapped victims by survey and reconnaissance of the entire area.
Hazard Identification:
Any type of personnel hazard should be assessed and identified. Hazardous materials, live utilities, flammables, etc., should be conspicuously cordoned off with surveyors' tape or a fire line tape. The safety officer should assess the general atmospheric conditions in and around any confined spaces or voids.
Structural stability:
The teams structural engineer should provide initial assessments of relative building stability and safety in relation tot he ongoing search operations. In addition, recurring assessments should be performed throughout the operation.
One of the biggest reasons for the failure of disaster plans is the lack of coordination. This was evident in this rescue operation. The other reasons of disaster plan failure are poor communication between organisations and individuals and a lack of accountability.
Although this was a tragic incident that was mismanaged by the authorities and resulted in the tragic loss of seven lives, this should be a wake-up call and realisation for the authorities.
The media should assume a more responsible role during disaster management. Media Ethics should not be compromised over ratings. The general public should also act responsibly, stay clear of the incident site and avoid obstructing the path of rescue workers.
The government officials and politicians should take concrete steps in establishing disaster plans for all offices, buildings, institutions and parliament assemblies. The ICS is an internationally recommended system which should become a part of every organisation. Saving lives should be our primary goal.
