ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 - Australian and New Zealand College of ...

Below from left: The C-17 seating for the
flight to Japan, including the search dogs
in the foreground; Alpha One USAR Team
in Minamisanriku.
of a four metre tsunami. The wave that
obliterated much of the town was at
least 10 metres at the shore line, and
up to 30 metres up the narrow valleys
surrounding it. Up to 17,000 people are
missing presumed dead from this town
alone. Similar situations occurred for
tens of kilometres both north and south
of Minamisanriku, along the coastline
of Japan.
Australian authorities, on the
background of a recent deployment
to an earthquake in neighbouring
New Zealand, were quick to anticipate
the potential need for a taskforce
deployment to the emerging disaster.
At about 2200 hours, discussions
were held between Australian and
Japanese government officials, with
the definitive request for assistance
received early Saturday morning,
March 12. What followed was the
efficient and rapid dissemination of this
request and the formation of a large,
multidisciplinary, highly skilled team
of rescuers that formed the NSW Urban
Search and Rescue (USAR) taskforce 1.
Highly trained and skilled members
of the NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW
Ambulance, NSW Police, Department
of Commerce Engineers, Qld Fire and
Rescue Search Dogs, and doctors from
the NSW Ambulance Service Medical
Retrieval Service, responded. We were
equipped and then deployed to Japan
with the rapid assistance of the Royal
Australian Air Force. Within 48 hours
or so of the disaster, an Australian
specialist disaster assistance response
team was on the ground in Japan.
Mission
On arrival in Japan, at the Yokota US
Air Force Base outside of Tokyo, initial
plans and logistical operations were
set up to coordinate our tasking. We
then made the trip from the Tokyo
area through 30-40 km/h speedrestricted
(secondary to earthquake
damage) freeways to the Miyagi
Prefecture where we set up our base
of operations. A reconnaissance team
went by Black Hawk helicopter to the
Minamisanriku area to assess and plan
operations, along with a ground team.
Accommodation and functional tenting
(medical tent, logistics, meal tent)
were set up, as were power generators
and lighting. Liaison with the other
international teams occurred rapidly
and local medical resources were visited
and assessed according to their ability
to not only cope with the local crises
but also if a critical injury occurred to
an Australian team member. It became
quite clear that the local medical
resources were not in a position to
provide external assistance to rescue
teams, however, the deployment of an
Australian medical and surgical team
would not be required.
(continued next page)
“ Within 48 hours or
so of the disaster,
an Australian specialist
disaster assistance
response team was on
the ground in Japan.”
ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 37