1. URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE (USAR) THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
International Search And Rescue Advisory Group
Arjun Katoch
Disaster Management Advisor

2. WHAT IS URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE ?
“Locating, accessing, medically treating and extrication of casualties entrapped within confined spaces.”

4. SURVIVAL DEPENDENT ON TIME FROM DISASTER TO RESCUE
81.0%
36.7%
33.7%
19.0%
Arjun Katoch
Disaster Management Advisor

5. PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL USAR TEAMS ENTERING AN AFFECTED COUNTRY IMMEDIATELY AFTER A DISASTER1
International Team arrivals as per
INSARAG Guidelines procedures
National and local Govt.
arrangements
Disaster Site
Identified
airport arrival
for incoming teams 4
Teams tasked to incident
site to operate under
incident controller
Incoming teams move to border processing
Incident
Controller
Incident
Controller
Incident
Controller
Border processing
Immigration
Quarantine & MOH
Customs
Consular Liaison
Security
Toilet Facilities
Secure area
(inside customs)
District or City
incident manager
Reception Centre
Staffed by UNDAC using INSARAG and UNDAC procedures
Registring and briefing of teams
Toilet facilities
Refreshment
OSOCC
(Situated close to disaster site)
Teams are registered and tasked
to disaster site with information received
from LEMA Liaison Officer
(LEMA)
insecure area
(outside customs) 2 3
Teams transported
from
airport reception centre
to OSOCC
liaison and coordination

6. INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE ADVISORY GROUP (INSARAG)
Inter-governmental network, established in 1991 following lessons from Armenia earthquake of 1988.
Under the United Nations
Deals with Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) response issues - UN GA Resolution 57/150 of 16 Dec 2002“Strengthening the Effectiveness and Coordination of International Urban Search and Rescue Assistance” 6

7. THE INTERNATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE ADVISORY GROUP (INSARAG)
Steering
Committee
(Switzerland)
Secretariat
OCHA/Geneva
(ERS)
Regional Group
Africa/Europe
(Italy )
Regional Group
Americas
(Argentina)
Regional Group
Asia/Pacific
(Australia)
Working Groups
Trg, Medical,
Lt. Teams, IM,
Guidelines Review
International
USAR
Team Leaders
Meeting
Ad-hoc
Working
Groups
Ad-hoc
Working
Groups

8. INSARAG MANDATE
Develop global standards for minimum capacity of international USAR assistance
Develop standardised procedures for international cooperation and coordination in collapsed structure response
Improve disaster response preparedness
Promote capacity building in earthquake -prone countries 8

9. INSARAG IDENTIFICATION OF USAR TEAMS
Deeply
Entombed
20%
Heavy USAR
Some voids and confined space
Medium USAR
30%
Light USAR
15%
Minor Injuries – lightly trapped
35%
Local Resources
Light USAR Teams are intended to augment local resources.
Medium USAR Teams are intended to improve operations due to increased capacity.
Heavy USAR Teams are intended to enhance operations and work to free those deeply entombed.

10. THE INSARAG GUIDELINES
Procedures for international USAR team requests, deployment , Coordination On-Site (OSOCC )
Minimum acceptable operational standards and requirements of International USAR teams to cover:
Management
Logistics
Search
Rescue
Medical
Guidance to Member States for
establishment of USAR capacity
INSARAG External Classification(IEC) system 10

11. INSARAG GUIDELINES INTERNATIONAL USAR TEAMS CAPABILITY
Team should be self sufficient for 10 days, but can be deployed longer if necessary.
Team needs to be airborne “wheels up” 10 hours from notification.
Must have the following USAR Staff:
Disaster managers
Medical personnel
Structural engineers
Lifting & Rigging specialists
Rescue specialists
Canine teams
Hazardous materials specialists
ICT specialists
Logistical, planning and support staff
Every USAR team will tell you that they are self sufficient however this is not necessarily the case. They will require Fuel, timber, O2 etc that they will expect you to source.
Maybe staffed with up to 100-members per mission but this is dependant on the team.

12. INSARAG GUIDELINES USAR TEAM STRUCTURE
All USAR teams, irrespective of their capacity, classification and operational involvement should comprise of the following components:
Management
Logistics
Search
Rescue
Medical
The Incident Command System (ICS) is adopted as the principle to manage USAR teams.
Organisational chart demonstrates the operational structure of a team. Talk about how teams are structured slightly differently but still conform to the laid down guidelines.
All USAR teams are required to conform to these arrangements.

13. INTERNATIONAL USAR TEAMS IN NEPAL EARTHQUAKE, 2015
from 31 countries.
2,142 Responders,
189 Dogs

14. INSARAG GUIDELINES – USAR COORDINATION ON SITE
(THE UN OSOCC)
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, 2005 Earthquake
Kathmandu , Nepal, 2015 Earthquake

15. OVERALL USAR COORDINATION STRUCTURE
GDACS
Virtual OSOCC
RDC
Local Emergency
Management Authority
(LEMA)
UN OSOCC
USAR
Coordination
Sector
Coordination
Local Sector
LEMA
International
USAR Teams
Domestic
USAR teams

16. INTERNATIONAL EXTERNAL CLASSIFICATION (IEC)
External team tests USAR team for:
Management
Logistics
Search
Rescue
Medical
Testing – 48 hour live Exercise:
Preparedness
Mobilisation & Deployment
Operations
Demobilisation

17. 53 IEC CLASSIFIED USAR TEAMS WORLDWIDE
Americas
AEME
Asia-Pacific
Heavy 2 24 8
Medium 17
Total 4 41