Australian Red Cross Delegates Program

Indicator 5: Upon request from Movement partners and subject to a needsassessment, disaster management delegates are deployed withina short timeframe.13The Australian Red Cross Rapid Deployment Register enabled delegates to be onthe ground assisting affected communities within short timeframes followingdisasters and requests from Movement partners in Chad, Ethiopia, Fiji,Mozambique and Papua New Guinea. Delegates were deployed and on the groundassisting affected communities and providing strategic operation and coordinationexpertise in the immediate aftermath of a number of devastating events:• Chad: Australian Red Cross delegate, Don Johnston was deployed as FieldAssessment and Coordination Team (FACT) Team Leader within 48 hours of arequest from the IFRC following a cholera epidemic. Health Delegates, BarbaraFord and Ruth Jebb were deployed within 48 and 72 hours respectively as part ofa FACT and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Community Health Module.Australian Red Cross delegate, Kym Blechynden, was deployed as part of asecond rotation in the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Community HealthModule following Ruth Jebb’s departure.• Ethiopia: Australian Red Cross delegate Dave O’Meara was deployed as anOperations Coordinator within 96 hours of a request from the Federation to assistfollowing drought in Ethiopia• Fiji: Australian Red Cross delegate, James Boyce was deployed within 72 hoursof a request from Fiji Red Cross following floods. He assisted Australian RedCross Water and Sanitation Manager Bob Handby who deployed within 24 hours.• Mozambique: Australian Red Cross delegate, Don Johnston was deployed asFACT Team Leader within 120 hours of a request from the IFRC after a tropicalstorm affected Mozambique. Australian Red Cross delegate, Tim Stats wasdeployed on a FACT shelter mission within 48 hours of a request from the IFRC.• Papua New Guinea: Australian Red Cross delegate, Katrina Neville wasdeployed within 48 hours of the ferry capsize disaster as a Restoring Family Links(RFL) Delegate. Water and Sanitation Delegates, David Hancock and PeterO’Keefe were on the ground to assist PNG Red Cross following flooding within48 and 72 hours, respectively.After receiving a request from the IFRC, delegate Don Johnston was deployed asFACT Team Leader to Chad within 24 hours. His role was to support Red Cross ofChad and coordinate with other Movement partners to respond quickly to thecholera epidemic. By coordinating a rapid assessment of the situation in Chad, Donwas able to develop a plan of action and rapidly mobilise Emergency ResponseUnits (ERUs) to begin implementation of the emergency response. This enabledswift delivery of curative care to people severely affected by cholera in areas wheresufficient health services were lacking, and provision of information to vulnerablecommunities about simple practices that would protect them against cholera.“ ”Don explains that his role in the rapid response to the Chad cholera epidemic wasstraightforward, “to prevent people from dying from an easily preventable disease”.