project: humanitarian aid program for natural and anthropic catastrophes
TRANSCRIPT
Project:
“Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural
and Anthropic Catastrophes”
GRESA
Health and Environmental Emergency Response Group
Presentation
The basic aim of “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and
Anthropic Catastrophes”, is to attend a population afflicted by any
kind of natural catastrophes, such as: earthquakes, hurricanes,
cyclones, floods, alluviums, avalanches, drought, big fires, etc.,
and/or by Anthropic ones: oil spilling, chemical, radioactive and
sensitive substances spilling, etc. with the health-environmental
support of our Health and Environmental Emergency Response
Group – GRESA.
What’s GRESA?
GRESA is an ecumenical and interdisciplinary corps formed by
professionals, doctors and paramedics, specialized in Health
Emergencies and Catastrophes, to attend the afflicted population’s
public health.
It is also formed by: engineers, geologists, ecologists, to solve, or at
least, minimize the damages produced in the environment by a
catastrophe.
It will also provide all kind of material supplies, operative support and
technical advice to any involved population, pretending to shorten the
time in which the remedy of the environmental problem can be given.
We want to solve, or at least minimize, the effects caused during
and/or after every catastrophe, especially, those defined as “THE
DAY AFTER”, with professional and material help.
As to achieve an operative effectiveness, GRESA, besides the one
base in Argentina, will have 39 overseas bases, both continental and
insular. These bases belong to four categories: Alfa Base, Beta
Base, Base 1 and Base 2.
Even though the provision and crew of the bases Beta, 1 and 2 are
limited, they have been designed to give a quick response in case of
needs, and will act as beachhead for all actions, shortening
distances, at least, from the very first moment when the
catastrophes strikes, up to the time when the main task force arrives
from GRESA – Alfa Base .
Organization chart of GRESA – Operative Bases
Alfa Base (1)
Alfa Base (1)
Logistics StaffLogistics Staff
Beta Bases (12)
Beta Bases (12)
Bases 1(18)
Bases 1(18)
Bases 2 (9)
Bases 2 (9)
Operative Staff Operative Staff
Executive Council GRESAExecutive Council GRESA
Coordinators and Sponsors
The coordinator of the “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and
Anthropic Catastrophes” will be Multimedios Ambiente
Ecológico – MAE.
MAE, will need all kind of possible collaboration and sponsorship
from official, national and international institutions and
organizations, commercial enterprises, NGO's, private individuals
and legal entities to achieve the objective, for example:
- The Argentine Foreign Affairs Office, would be responsible of
coordinating the operations by means of its embassies and consulates
with the chancelleries of the participating countries.
- The International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Half Moon,
would raise the alarm of the catastrophes and would perform the
Coordination with their local subsidiaries in each country for the arrival of
the GRESA task force, with all its equipment and provisions to face
Natural and/or Anthropic Catastrophes, wherever there would be people in
danger and/or the environment would be either threatened or in danger.
- The Argentina Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina – FAA), as all
Air Forces where GRESA would have operative bases, in order to
allow the assigned staff to the Program lead coordination, piloting,
maintenance, security and hangar of the involved aircrafts (cargo
planes and helicopters)
- The Argentina Navy (Armada República Argentina – ARA), as all
the different Navies where GRESA will have its marine or fluvial
bases of operations, to allow the Head of the task force to face
coordination, piloting, maintenance, security and docking of the
ships that belongs to the Program (hospital ships and helicopters).
- The Argentina Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina – PNA)
in order to allow its trained staff to control oil, chemical, radioactive
and sensitive substances spilling, etc., either at sea or fluvial, assist
in the intervention of eventual disasters.
Even though the international assistance would act quickly and
with equal participation before any kind of catastrophe, and
particularly, before those ones which can drastically damage poor
or developing countries, we want to reach those places with non
traditional assistance within 24 hours, maximum 48 hours after
the event takes place.
Supplies we offer to the affected populations :
- Tents for evacuated people (1 per family, ±10 people)
- Individual mattresses and Inflatable pillows
- Blankets, depending on place and season
- Bed sheets and non-allergic pillowcases
- Disposable supplies for hygiene
- Personal showers with tank, pump and water heater
- Chemical toilets.
Supplies we offer to the Emergency healthcare services Centres:
- Medical equipments for sanitary emergencies
- Mobile hospitals: coronary unit, emergency operating theatre, Intensive
care unit, etc.
- Sanitary tents for patients (30/40 people)
- Camp beds for convalescents patients with inflatable mattresses and
pillows
- Blankets, depending on place and season
- Disposable non-allergic bed sheets and pillowcases
- Medicines, vaccines, disinfectants, serums, etc.
- Disposables: syringes, bandages, cotton wool, needles, probes, scalpels
- Personal showers with tank, pump and water heater
- Chemical toilets
Supplies we offer to the de Refugees’ Centres:
- Cookers with all peripheral equipments
- Boxes of pre-manufactured, fortified and dehydrated food
- Cooking utensils to cook and deliver food
- Mobile water treatment plant
- Water bottling mobile units (in plastic bags)
- Electricity generators
- General and individual lighting system for tents
- Cold chain maintenance devises (medicines and food)
- Unfolding storage tanks for pathogenic waste
- Unfolding storage tanks for sewage waste
- Body bags
The GRESA are prepared to respond to medical emergencies: surgical,
clinical, psychological, epidemiological, etc., and also to environmental
ones: disinfection, resolution, decontamination, etc. of the environment
immediately, depending only on the time the permissions to fly over
every country are given, particularly, over the damaged country, and on
the normal reaction of each mobilization of this kind.
Even though the GRESA contractually depend on MAE and will be
directly coordinated by its Executive Council, they themselves will be
put at the disposal of any national or local authority and the
International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Half Moon’s
wherever a catastrophes takes place in order to perform conjointly,
so as to make the most of all the available resources effectively.
A skilled staff in the assistance of the environment, will perform as
soon as the appropriate permissions are granted to start operations.
And so, damages produced to the environment can be either delimited
or minimized.
The needed operative equipment, will travel with GRESA by the
allocated aircrafts, which will be operated by the staff appointed by
Argentine Air Force, or by the different Air Forces based on GRESA’s
bases.
With the “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and Anthropic
Catastrophes” and with the participation of its corps, GRESA, wants to
give possible solutions to some of the big problems that may happen
and increase in frequency and intensity every day, and to the
consequences of the continuous weather and telluric changes as well,
but also, by anthropic activity, particularly, by improper human
settlements –already irreversible nowadays- in potentially vulnerable
zones.
When we refer to “THE DAY AFTER”, we are thinking of minimizing
the eventual pollution and infestations produced by the devastation of
the area, and to the loss of essential services, such as: gas, fresh tap
water, main sewers, pluvial drains, communications, electricity, roads,
waterways, airport and seaport infrastructures, etc.
Population’s physiological needs and lack of hygiene, together with a
number of inert bodies of dead people and animals, could collapse
any damaged region of the world and so, increase chaos and
devastation can occur.
The psychological effects on individuals produced by a traumatic
situation can lower their immunological protections making their
organisms to be proclivity to any disease, particularly, those orally
transmitted ones (by drinking non fresh water) or infectious ones by
innumerable means or by necrosis of rotting bodies.
We think that there are not enough efforts or investment made which
can not be justified by the objective of Humanitarian Aid Program for
Natural and Anthropic Catastrophes, particularly, in all social classes,
being totally involved in the diffusion, commitment, and perseverance
of the Culture of Peace and of the Culture of Solidarity.
End of Presentation
Translated into English by Mónica Bortolin Ghisoni
Fundación Multimedios Ambiente Ecológico – MAEwww.mae.org.ar