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

Frosty, muddy, shaking and
glowing: 11 days in Japan
with the NSW Urban Search
and Rescue taskforce
continued
Below clockwise from top left: Radiation
monitoring equipment displaying “background”
radiation levels at our Base of Operations;
The base of operations, in snow conditions, in
Tome, Miyagi Prefecture; The Sun-Herald front
page on the day of departure. An example
of the media interpretation of what we
would face.
“ The culture of the
Japanese people was
astounding. There was
no looting, yelling or
screaming. In fact,
there was no public
show of emotions.”
theatre environment, and we have the
ability to see the bigger picture. We are
skilled critical care physicians, and can
adapt and work in conditions in addition
to our comfortable operating theatre
homes (like the uncontrolled emergency
department, ward or even the roadside).
We can comfortably manage stand down
time (some may disparagingly say that is
most of our work!), and can rapidly shift
to crisis management roles.
However, this environment is not for
everybody, and certainly placing an
anaesthetist without proper training,
experience and equipment out into the
field would be undesirable – not only
for the other rescuers, who would be
responsible for their safety and wellbeing,
but also for themselves. Surely
another victim in a disaster situation is
a hindrance not a help.
As such, as an organisation, we have
a responsibility for each other and
ourselves to have in place a structured,
trained and equipped resource that can
be deployed safely and appropriately
into these disaster situations, and
operate effectively. The USAR taskforce
is such a resource, and it is a privilege to
be included in such a team.
Summary
I would like to thank all my colleagues
at Royal North Shore Hospital, for
their support and coverage of work
responsibilities back in Australia while
I was away on deployment. I would
like to thank all the team members
and colleagues within the Ambulance
Service of NSW for their hard work and
professionalism, and support during
such a deployment. I would also like to
thank Dr Ron Manning, Director of the
Medical Retrieval Service in NSW, and
Dr Karel Habig, Medical Manager of the
Greater Sydney Area HEMS, for their
support and guidance.
SMEAC
Situation: Massive loss of life and
infrastructure following earthquake
and tsunami in Japan.
Mission: USAR deployment to provide
specialist disaster assessment and
assistance in the designated tasking
area (Minamisanriku/Shizugawa area
within the Miyagi Prefecture). Initial
deployment to within the affected area
will set up a Base of Operations (BOO)
and reconnaissance team will assess the
on ground effects and plan subsequent
operations. A secondary process
will be to assess the local medical
infrastructure, not only for assessment
of evacuation of critically injured USAR
patients or injured USAR team members,
but also for humanitarian needs
assessment.
Execution: 74 person multidisciplinary
team, working within two teams (alpha
and bravo) capable of 24 hour coverage
(two 12 hour watches). Ability to provide
“heavy” USAR capabilities to large scale
infrastructure damage.
Administration: The logistics team
will administer resources and provide
sustainability requirements (including
shelter, food and water rationing, and
equipment).
Command/Control/Communications:
The command and control structure
is well defined, with a Task Force and
Deputy Task Force Leader, Incident
Management Team, and team leaders.
All communications are disseminated
through regular briefs, and through a
structured communications system.
40 ANZCA Bulletin June 2011