Project:

“Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural

and Anthropic Catastrophes”

GRESA

Health and Environmental Emergency Response Group

Presentation

 

The basic aim of “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and

Anthropic Catastrophes”, is to attend a population afflicted by any

kind of natural catastrophes, such as: earthquakes, hurricanes,

cyclones, floods, alluviums, avalanches, drought, big fires, etc.,

and/or by Anthropic ones: oil spilling, chemical, radioactive and

sensitive substances spilling, etc. with the health-environmental

support of our Health and Environmental Emergency Response

Group – GRESA.

What’s GRESA?

GRESA is an ecumenical and interdisciplinary corps formed by

professionals, doctors and paramedics, specialized in Health

Emergencies and Catastrophes, to attend the afflicted population’s

public health.

It is also formed by: engineers, geologists, ecologists, to solve, or at

least, minimize the damages produced in the environment by a

catastrophe.

It will also provide all kind of material supplies, operative support and

technical advice to any involved population, pretending to shorten the

time in which the remedy of the environmental problem can be given.

We want to solve, or at least minimize, the effects caused during

and/or after every catastrophe, especially, those defined as “THE

DAY AFTER”, with professional and material help.

As to achieve an operative effectiveness, GRESA, besides the one

base in Argentina, will have 39 overseas bases, both continental and

insular. These bases belong to four categories: Alfa Base, Beta

Base, Base 1 and Base 2.

Even though the provision and crew of the bases Beta, 1 and 2 are

limited, they have been designed to give a quick response in case of

needs, and will act as beachhead for all actions, shortening

distances, at least, from the very first moment when the

catastrophes strikes, up to the time when the main task force arrives

from GRESA – Alfa Base .

Organization chart of GRESA – Operative Bases

Alfa Base (1)

Alfa Base (1)

Logistics StaffLogistics Staff

Beta Bases (12)

Beta Bases (12)

Bases 1(18)

Bases 1(18)

Bases 2 (9)

Bases 2 (9)

Operative Staff Operative Staff

Executive Council GRESAExecutive Council GRESA

Coordinators and Sponsors 

The coordinator of the “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and

Anthropic Catastrophes” will be Multimedios Ambiente

Ecológico – MAE.

 

MAE, will need all kind of possible collaboration and sponsorship

from official, national and international institutions and

organizations, commercial enterprises, NGO's, private individuals

and legal entities to achieve the objective, for example:

- The Argentine Foreign Affairs Office, would be responsible of

coordinating the operations by means of its embassies and consulates

with the chancelleries of the participating countries.

 

- The International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Half Moon,

would raise the alarm of the catastrophes and would perform the

Coordination with their local subsidiaries in each country for the arrival of

the GRESA task force, with all its equipment and provisions to face

Natural and/or Anthropic Catastrophes, wherever there would be people in

danger and/or the environment would be either threatened or in danger.

- The Argentina Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina – FAA), as all

Air Forces where GRESA would have operative bases, in order to

allow the assigned staff to the Program lead coordination, piloting,

maintenance, security and hangar of the involved aircrafts (cargo

planes and helicopters)

- The Argentina Navy (Armada República Argentina – ARA), as all

the different Navies where GRESA will have its marine or fluvial

bases of operations, to allow the Head of the task force to face

coordination, piloting, maintenance, security and docking of the

ships that belongs to the Program (hospital ships and helicopters).

- The Argentina Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina – PNA)

in order to allow its trained staff to control oil, chemical, radioactive

and sensitive substances spilling, etc., either at sea or fluvial, assist

in the intervention of eventual disasters.

Even though the international assistance would act quickly and

with equal participation before any kind of catastrophe, and

particularly, before those ones which can drastically damage poor

or developing countries, we want to reach those places with non

traditional assistance within 24 hours, maximum 48 hours after

the event takes place.

Supplies we offer to the affected populations :

- Tents for evacuated people (1 per family, ±10 people)

- Individual mattresses and Inflatable pillows

- Blankets, depending on place and season

- Bed sheets and non-allergic pillowcases

- Disposable supplies for hygiene

- Personal showers with tank, pump and water heater

- Chemical toilets.

Supplies we offer to the Emergency healthcare services Centres:

- Medical equipments for sanitary emergencies

- Mobile hospitals: coronary unit, emergency operating theatre, Intensive

care unit, etc.

- Sanitary tents for patients (30/40 people)

- Camp beds for convalescents patients with inflatable mattresses and

pillows

- Blankets, depending on place and season

- Disposable non-allergic bed sheets and pillowcases

- Medicines, vaccines, disinfectants, serums, etc.

- Disposables: syringes, bandages, cotton wool, needles, probes, scalpels

- Personal showers with tank, pump and water heater

- Chemical toilets

Supplies we offer to the de Refugees’ Centres:

- Cookers with all peripheral equipments

- Boxes of pre-manufactured, fortified and dehydrated food

- Cooking utensils to cook and deliver food

- Mobile water treatment plant

- Water bottling mobile units (in plastic bags)

- Electricity generators

- General and individual lighting system for tents

- Cold chain maintenance devises (medicines and food)

- Unfolding storage tanks for pathogenic waste

- Unfolding storage tanks for sewage waste

- Body bags

The GRESA are prepared to respond to medical emergencies: surgical,

clinical, psychological, epidemiological, etc., and also to environmental

ones: disinfection, resolution, decontamination, etc. of the environment

immediately, depending only on the time the permissions to fly over

every country are given, particularly, over the damaged country, and on

the normal reaction of each mobilization of this kind.

Even though the GRESA contractually depend on MAE and will be

directly coordinated by its Executive Council, they themselves will be

put at the disposal of any national or local authority and the

International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Half Moon’s

wherever a catastrophes takes place in order to perform conjointly,

so as to make the most of all the available resources effectively.

A skilled staff in the assistance of the environment, will perform as

soon as the appropriate permissions are granted to start operations.

And so, damages produced to the environment can be either delimited

or minimized.

The needed operative equipment, will travel with GRESA by the

allocated aircrafts, which will be operated by the staff appointed by

Argentine Air Force, or by the different Air Forces based on GRESA’s

bases.

With the “Humanitarian Aid Program for Natural and Anthropic

Catastrophes” and with the participation of its corps, GRESA, wants to

give possible solutions to some of the big problems that may happen

and increase in frequency and intensity every day, and to the

consequences of the continuous weather and telluric changes as well,

but also, by anthropic activity, particularly, by improper human

settlements –already irreversible nowadays- in potentially vulnerable

zones.

When we refer to “THE DAY AFTER”, we are thinking of minimizing

the eventual pollution and infestations produced by the devastation of

the area, and to the loss of essential services, such as: gas, fresh tap

water, main sewers, pluvial drains, communications, electricity, roads,

waterways, airport and seaport infrastructures, etc.

Population’s physiological needs and lack of hygiene, together with a

number of inert bodies of dead people and animals, could collapse

any damaged region of the world and so, increase chaos and

devastation can occur.

The psychological effects on individuals produced by a traumatic

situation can lower their immunological protections making their

organisms to be proclivity to any disease, particularly, those orally

transmitted ones (by drinking non fresh water) or infectious ones by

innumerable means or by necrosis of rotting bodies.

We think that there are not enough efforts or investment made which

can not be justified by the objective of Humanitarian Aid Program for

Natural and Anthropic Catastrophes, particularly, in all social classes,

being totally involved in the diffusion, commitment, and perseverance

of the Culture of Peace and of the Culture of Solidarity.

End of Presentation

Translated into English by Mónica Bortolin Ghisoni

Fundación Multimedios Ambiente Ecológico – MAEwww.mae.org.ar