National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) March 2010 - NDMA

53
(f) Representatives from Civil Society /Local Councils
b. Initial Assessment Techniques. First hand information may be gathered in the
area using the following techniques:-
(1) Field visits of the affected part.
(2) Review of secondary information if available (e.g. socio-economic conditions,
population, Maps etc).
(3) On site visual assessment e.g. walk through affected area, observations during
interviews etc.
(4) Interview of community, religious leaders, groups and focus group interviews
affected by disaster.
(5) Discussions with officials, elected representatives and NGOs/CBOs.
c. Whichever assessment techniques are used, these should be adapted to the urgency
of the situation and the degree of detail and accuracy needed to mount an appropriate
response.
d. Organizing Initial Rapid Assessment
(1) Clarify the purpose of the initial rapid assessment.
(2) Prepare Terms of Reference (TOR) with assessment team and make sure that
TOR is understood by the team.
(3) Prepare assessment questions and checklist before field work.
(4) Team composition should include women.
(5) Brief training of the team about rapid assessment formats.
(6) Clarify roles and responsibilities of team.
(7) Use standardized processes and report format.
(8) Report should be written in simple and clear language.
5. Search and Rescue. The first 12 hours of any disaster are regarded as the critical hours.
This means that the sooner the search and rescue operations start the better are the chances for
survival of entrapped people. A trained and equipped team of professionals is able to carry out timely
and effective coordinated operations to locate and rescue persons in distress and deliver them to a
place of safety.
a. Definition. Search and Rescue are two separate functions.
(1) Search. To carefully look in order to find someone missing or lost during a
disaster.
(2) Rescue. To safely remove a trapped casualty from confinement, under
rubble due to disaster.
b. Objectives. The objectives of search and rescue are to:-
(1) Safeguard the life of a rescuer - as he/she is the most important person in a
rescue attempt.