WATER POLITICSCLIMATE, SECURITY, HEALTH, PEACE

CRISISRESPONSE VO L : 1 1 | I S S U E : 2 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 W W W . C R I S I S - RE S P O N S E . CO M J O U R N A L

PLUS: Terrorist attacks in Ankara and Paris; Chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq; Fire Services and social engagement; Disaster risk

reduction and resilience; Critical infrastructure protection; Research & Development, a round-up of cutting-edge technologies

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22 Resources, links, pictures, videos and much more are available for subscribers in our digital and online editions www.crisis-response.com2

Editor in ChiefEmily Houghemily@crisis-response.com

Chief Scientific EditorIan Portelli, PhD, Mscian@crisis-response.com

Urban Resilience EditorAndy Marshallandy@crisis-response.com

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Published by Crisis Response Journal LtdPO Box 6269, Thatcham, RG19 9JX, UKTel: +44 (0) 208 1661690; mail@crisis-response.com www.crisis-response.com COPYRIGHT Crisis Response Journal Ltd 2015 Articles published in Crisis Response Journal may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the Editor in ChiefPrinted in England by Buxton PressISSN 1745-8633

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December 2015 | vol:11 | issue:2

contentsNews ����������������������������������������������������������������4Comment ���������������������������������������������������������8We hope total infrastructure breakdown won’t happen in Europe but, nevertheless, we must be prepared for such an eventuality, warns Prince Michael of Liechtenstein

Incident analysisDisasters at the Hajj ��������������������������������������10More than 1,000 people were killed in two unrelated incidents at this year’s Hajj, reports Tony Moore, who investigates what happened

Rally bombings in Ankara ������������������������������14Tony Moore describes how suicide bombers killed 102 people at a peace rally in Turkey

Paris attacks: A chronology ���������������������������16Christophe Libeau outlines the events that occurred in Paris on November 13, 2015, describing emergency services’ activities

Paris attacks: Resource management �����������18Christophe Libeau describes how the Paris Fire Brigade manages its manpower and resources during times of extreme emergency

Paris attacks: On the frontline ������������������������20Incident Commander Michel Rimélé gives a personal account of response operations during the terrorist attacks in Paris

FeaturesToday’s CBRN landscape �������������������������������22The CBRN threat – or at least the perception of it –has never been more in the spotlight, says Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, but the international community can prepare itself and be more resilient

Command decision dilemmas ������������������������24Dr Dave Sloggett looks at the issues that arise in command decision-making at dynamic events, such as terrorist attacks

A continued threat ������������������������������������������26The nature of the terrorist threat is evolving – response and planning must adapt too, says Roger Gomm

Senior management engagement ������������������28The reluctance of senior business leaders to engage in crisis preparedness must be addressed, according to Dominic Cockram

Manchester: United ����������������������������������������30County Fire Officer Peter O’Reilly describes how GMFRS is striving to position the fire service as a health asset

Social safety not social unrest �����������������������32A Swedish rescue service’s engagement with local communities after civil unrest has paid off, write Ulf Nilsson and Attila Jensen

Balancing civil security and defence �������������34Todd M Rosenblum’s insight into treading a tightrope between policy, perception, reality and saving lives, based on his experience at the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense

Civil-military: Working together ���������������������38Rebecca Sutton presents some perceptions of civil-military relations and humanitarian assistance in West Africa, garnered from an innovative course held recently

Developing resilience ������������������������������������40Are we putting enough into preparedness and capacity building before a disaster? John Holland investigates

Community engagement p32Terrorist attacks in Paris p16

MI | DICOM | F Pellier Räddningstjänsten Syd

3 join the CRJ LinkedIn group follow us on twitter @editorialcrj Crisis Response Journal 11:2 | December 2015 3 join the CRJ LinkedIn group follow us on twitter @editorialcrj

CRISISRESPONSEcontents Cover story: Water politics

Cover image: Jorgen McLeman

Disaster diplomacy ����������������������������������������42We must learn to use disaster diplomacy better, because it is a great tool for more effective disaster risk management, says Dr Albrecht Beck

Getting to the scene safely �����������������������������44The benefits of Emergency Vehicle Preemption systems are detailed by Anthony Hildebrand

Global road safety crisis ��������������������������������46Road risk is a global problem of ‘epidemic’ proportions, with crashes killing more people than malaria, explains Emma MacLennan

Will Smart Cities dream of resilience? ����������48Smart Cities are being addressed as a series of silos, making them vulnerable, according to David Prior

Networking for protection ������������������������������51Simona Cavallini, Julia Friedl and Margherita Volpe introduce a new sustainable networking meeting point for Critical Infrastructure Protection in Europe

Keeping the power on ������������������������������������52Tony Kingham argues that societies should be investing in permanent, multi-faceted solutions to protect critical infrastructure

WaterWater for peace and resilience ����������������������54Adapting the UNDAC system ��������������������������58Floods in Sierra Leone �����������������������������������62French Riviera Floods ������������������������������������64Reducing motorist deaths ������������������������������66California drought update ������������������������������68From policy to emergency response ��������������70Reducing coastal risk ������������������������������������74

TechnologyResearch & Development ������������������������������76Dr Ian Portelli and Megan Mantaro introduce a new regular section, prompted by the popularity of CRJ’s online R&D blogs, and look at a new location referencing system in more detail

Drones in the emergency services �����������������78UAVS are one of the most talked about technologies of the last 12 months: Andrew Griffiths presents some practical considerations for first responders who might be considering investing in this technology

Ham radio in Belgium ������������������������������������80Emily Hough looks at how amateur radio operators in one province of Belgium are working with authorities to provide emergency communications in the event of a major blackout

Monitoring critical buildings ��������������������������83Evangelos Sdongos and Dr Angelos Amditis describe a system that provides near real-time damage assessment of buildings’ condition and damage after a disaster such as an earthquake or terrorist attack

In DepthAdvanced situational awareness �������������������86Legal liability in nuclear accidents ����������������90Effective decision-making records �����������������92

RegularsEvents ������������������������������������������������������������94Looking back ��������������������������������������������������96Europe������������������������������������������������������������97Frontline ���������������������������������������������������������98Emily Hough speaks to Henri Ladyi, who demobilises rebel militias, especially child soldiers, in DR Congo

The final push for a climate deal at COP21 was ongoing

as CRJ went to press. Meanwhile, rainfall of near biblical intensity had lashed many areas, including Sierra Leone, India, the UK and France.

The theme of this issue is water, including flooding, of course. Time and time again, our expensive defences built to protect communities and infrastructure seem to fail, our models and predictions become overwhelmed by ever more extreme climate events. As Patrick Lagadec has often stated: Are we fighting the last war?

And this is a controversial question, but one that needs to be asked: When do areas become too dangerous for human habitation? Should relocation – as a strategy of last resort – be discussed more widely? Last year, the San Remo consultation, organised by UNHCR, examined the issue of planned relocation owing to sudden onset disasters, acute environmental degradation and longer term effects of climate change. It found that those working on climate change adaptation frameworks are often unfamiliar with the experiences of resettling communities, whether as part of dam projects or resettling refugees in other countries. “The silos which characterise work on this issue are immense,” it said, which is worrying, given the virtually unimaginable long-term, generational, financial and human costs relocating vulnerable or untenable communities would entail.

It would take a brave – or possibly politically suicidal – government to tell large numbers of its citizens that it can no longer shield them from extreme climate events and that relocation is the least unattractive option.

In a draft document ahead of COP21, the UN proposed a climate change displacement co-ordination facility, to provide organised migration and planned relocation, as well as compensation to people fleeing rising sea levels, extreme weather and ruined agriculture. The reference was dropped from the draft.

But it is clear, though decidely unpalatable, that relocation will have to be considered in some areas and the duty of all those involved in emergency preparedness, mitigation and response is to familiarise themselves with existing experience and consequences, and consider how this could affect them, their roles and communities.

Emily Hough

Mathijs van Ledden Peace Direct

Coastal protection p74 Demobilising child soldiers p98

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Road crashes claim 1.25 million lives a year and are the biggest killer of young people in every world region. Until now this epidemic has gone largely unrecognised by the donor

community. Effective response to road risk is essential for resilience.In September 2015, the UN adopted new Global Goals for

Sustainable Development; these will run until 2030, replacing the Millennium Development Goals and finally putting road safety firmly on the agenda. Goal 3 – for Health and Well-Being – sets a very tough target for governments of halving road deaths and injuries by 2020. Goal 11 calls for Sustainable Cities, with safe, affordable and accessible transport for all, including vulnerable road users like children, cyclists and pedestrians. Achieving these aims will require a massive effort by governments, donors, public services and civil society – particularly in high-risk countries.

Aid workers engaged in humanitarian work often find themselves in extreme environments, facing risks from natural disasters, terrorist attacks and crime. But the greatest risk they face is often unrecognised: road deaths. According to Paul Jansen, Executive Director of Fleet Forum: “Road traffic accidents are the number one killer of aid workers.”

Work injuriesFurthermore, road safety is the chief work hazard in some of the most risk-prone jobs, such as oil and gas extraction, policing, refuse and chemical waste recycling. In the US, where detailed occupational injury data is kept, 40 per cent of all fatal work injuries in 2014 were transport related (US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2015). Globally, around one in three road fatalities involve someone driving for work.

Road risk is not just a work hazard. According to Dr Etienne Krug, Director of Violence and Injury Prevention for the World Health Organisation, it is a global problem of ‘epidemic’ scale. Currently the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, road crashes kill many more people than malaria and have nearly reached the global fatality levels of tuberculosis. Moreover 20 to 50 million people a year are seriously injured or disabled, weighing heavily on health and social services and impoverishing families.

Ninety per cent of road deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, though they have only half the world’s registered vehicles. In these countries the cost of road crashes is estimated at between three to five per cent of GDP – dwarfing many aid budgets.

It might be surprising, therefore, that the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN in 2000 did not mention road safety – though targets for both malaria and TB reduction were included.

Global road safety advocacy organisations, such as the FIA Foundation in the UK, collaborated with individual governments to demand more action to reduce road deaths. In 2009 a global ministerial conference was convened by the Russian Federation involving over 70 countries. As a result, a UN Decade of Action on Road Safety 2011-2020 was declared in May 2010, and a Global Plan adopted to encourage governments to act.

In 2009 the Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) was established. This is a UK charity working with a network of partner organisations in 11 countries in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia to reduce road casualties and promote sustainable transport. EASST works across all five pillars of the UN Global Plan of Action: Better road safety management; safer roads and mobility; safer vehicles; safer road users; and safer post-crash response.

In pursuit of this last goal, EASST is a founder member of Fire Aid

Global road safety crisisRoad risk is a global problem of ‘epidemic’ scale: the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, road crashes kill more people than malaria and have nearly reached the global fatality levels of tuberculosis, says Emma MacLennan

– joined with ten other non-profits and services actively engaged in building fire and road rescue capacity in countries facing the greatest challenges. Fire Aid is a UK non-profit whose member organisations have been donating vehicles, equipment and training to over 30 countries around the globe in need of emergency rescue assistance.

Tajikistan is one of those countries. Here, EASST works in partnership with a very resourceful local NGO, the Young Generation of Tajikistan, whose training of young road safety advocates in a high-risk district of Dushanbe has succeeded in cutting road injuries. Tajikistan is a country of youth: 70 per cent of the population is under 30. It also has a per capita road fatality rate over six times higher than the UK, despite a tiny vehicle fleet (fewer than half a million motorised vehicles for a population of eight million).

One reason for this high fatality rate is lack of capacity for road rescue. Fewer than 11 per cent of seriously injured road victims are

47 Crisis Response Journal 11:2 | December 2015

transported to hospital by ambulance. Most are, at best, bundled into passing vehicles by whoever is at hand, then taken to the highly motivated but poorly equipped trauma centres. The one I visited in Dushanbe in February had no spinal boards, and just 10 sparsely kitted out ambulances, most of which were over 20 years old.

In early November a team from Fire Aid, the Staffordshire Emergency Services Humanitarian Aid Association (SESHAA) and Focus Humanitarian Aid travelled to the Pamir region of Tajikistan to train fire and rescue services and supply them with much-needed equipment. In Tajikistan they were bound for Khorog – where flooding and landslides in July displaced many thousands of people and caused widespread devastation.

The very poorly paved and rutted road they took skirted the border with Afghanistan along a river banked by high mountains, a journey described by Julie Utting, Fire Aid team member, as: “Simply terrifying.”

The poor road conditions were exacerbated by one of the drivers, who – despite protests – took blind corners at speed and persisted in using his mobile phone at the wheel. At one point they squeezed past an articulated lorry transporting a crane on a low loader. Just a few kilometres later that lorry left the road, crashing into the river below and killing the driver. It could so easily have been a vehicle from our convoy.

The Fire Aid project has now supplied spine boards and other medical equipment, firefighting equipment and training,

both in Dushanbe and Khorog. Next year it plans to return with much more, including vehicles. It will also provide weeks of training in road crash extrication, river rescue and (importantly) effective multi-agency emergency response.

A core aim of Fire Aid partner projects is to build resilience. In Moldova, where partners Operation Florian, the World Rescue Organisation, Blythswood Care and EASST have been working with local services for two years, national road rescue capacity has more than doubled.

Local fire services can point to many survivors extricated from vehicles who, without the equipment and training received, would have added to Moldova’s fatality rate.

Moldovan emergency services have embraced this training and have collaborated fully in order to achieve the highest standards of emergency response. Fire Aid members are carrying out similar projects in Nepal, Pakistan, Kenya, Macedonia, Thailand, Ukraine, Russia and many other countries.

Of course, road injury reduction will be competing with other important development goals for attention – such as poverty reduction, quality education, clean water and reduced inequalities. But safer roads and sustainable cities have a direct link with disaster risk reduction and greater resilience to global hazards. The work carried out by Fire Aid partners is certainly contributing in these important areas.

■ www.fire-aid.org; www.easst.co.uk

Main picture: The dangerous roads in the Pamir region of Tajikistan; Left: EASST working with children in Ukraine; Above: extrication training

AuthorEmma MacLennan is Deputy Chair, FIRE AID and Director, EASST

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