Disaster rescue and recovery; Different units, different uses.

With the Nepal disaster there are some critics, who argue about how emergency personnel are being used in the post disaster rescue and recovery efforts. Why are mountaineers getting rescued from the mountains, while there are people trapped in collapsed houses. Why are those foreign mountaineers getting help but the mountain village aren’t.

Well let’s get something clear. Rescue units are not trained to do every type of rescue. Different units are trained and equipped for different kind of jobs. Just look at what the different types of firefighters; There are structural fire fighters, forest fire fighters, technical rescue (road traffic collisions), hazardous material specialists, rescue divers, height rescue, etc. Although most fire fighters are trained to fight fire, the specialist jobs are generally only done by a smaller selection of fire fighters with specialist training and equipment.

Mountains rescue units are trained to save people from mountains. They are trained and equipped for just that. Mountaineering skills, specialist rope skills and improvisation (weight is a big issue when climbing). Urban search and rescue is a completely different type of unit. They need to find and reach people buried in (concrete) rubble, meaning working with specialist jacks, equipment to saw though rebar, stabilizing structured, etc. Totally different training and equipment. Using one unit to do the job of the other is letting people do things they have no clue about with the wrong equipment.

Then there is another difference; there are rescue units and there is recovery organisations. Rescue units are there only to rescue people; getting people safely out and to a safe location. Then there are organisations which focus on recovery. Recovery is making sure thing getting back to normal. Generally by providing basic necessity; shelter (tents), food, water, hygiene and basic medical services. Then the next step of getting things back to normal. These are obviously different from rescue units. Rescue units might leave surplus equipment and supplies when they leave, but they don’t provide more recovery wise than that.

So when people are arguing about rescuing mountaineers (mountain rescue units), but villages not receiving aid (recovery), they just don’t realist these a totally different units and organisations. It’s easy to judge, but unless you are schooled/trained in emergency management, you might need to take a step back and stop criticizing the professionals.