20 Years of INSARAG
By Dr Arvind Kumar
The International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) has completed 20 years of its establishment and provided a new dynamism to search and rescue operations in natural calamities, particularly to the earthquake victims. Prior to INSARAG, international search and rescue was ‘very chaotic’ and there was no commonality at all; the tools were totally inappropriate for the job, all to the detriment of the affected people. The international response to the Haiti earthquake was the largest ever. The search and rescue operation in Haiti allowed INSARAG to learn significant lessons. On 16 December 2002, General Assembly Resolution 57/150 endorsed the establishment of international standards and USAR capacity-building with the aim of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of international search and rescue operations, but a remaining challenge has been the certification of qualified international USAR teams. One measure that has already been introduced to address this gap is the INSARAG External Classification (IEC) process, established in 2005 to identify competent USAR teams.
A typical international USAR team includes search, rescue and medical components as well as administrative and logistical support and can be deployed within eight hours of notification of an emergency. A medium team consists of 20-60 people and a large international deployment can comprise 80 to 100-plus. Dogs spearhead most of the search operations, but structural engineers, vets and medics are also needed. With natural calamities becoming a frequent phenomenon, the INSARAG assumes added significance. It requires assistance and cooperation of all countries to be able to provide relief to the victims.
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