COSMIC WP1 – Task 1.2 Deliverable 1.2: Report on search and rescue actions Project acronym: COSMIC Project title: The COntribution of Social Media In Crisis management Grant number: 312737 Programme: Seventh Framework Programme – Security Research Objective: SEC-2012.6.1-3 Contract type: Coordination and support action Start date of project: 01 April 2013 Duration: 24 months Website: www.cosmic-project.eu Deliverable D1.2: Report on search and rescue actions Author(s): Hayley Watson, Kush Wadhwa (Trilateral Research & Consulting), Jelle Groenendaal, David de Vries (Crisislab) Alex Papadimitriou (Hellenic Rescue Team) Dissemination level: Public Deliverable type: Final Version: 1 Submission date: Due 30th September 2013 1 COSMIC WP1 – Task 1.2 Deliverable 1.2: Report on search and rescue actions Table of Contents Executive summary .............................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 General impact of different types of crisis .................................................................... 7 1.2 Prevention, preparation and response ........................................................................... 8 1.3 Report outline .............................................................................................................. 9 2 Man-made crises .......................................................................................................... 11 2.1 London attacks (2005) ............................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 12 2.1.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Boston attacks (2013) ................................................................................................ 19 2.2.1 Standard operating procedures & performance..................................................... 20 2.2.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 22 2.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 26 3 Earthquakes ................................................................................................................. 28 3.1 Athens earthquake (1999) .......................................................................................... 28 3.1.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 30 3.1.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 32 3.2 Haiti earthquake (2010) ............................................................................................. 34 3.2.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 36 3.2.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 38 3.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 41 4 Floods and Storms ........................................................................................................ 43 4.1 Hurricane Katrina (2005) ........................................................................................... 44 4.1.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 44 4.1.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 48 4.2 Storm Xynthia in France (2010) ................................................................................. 50 4.2.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 50 4.2.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 53 4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 54 5 Extreme temperatures ................................................................................................. 57 5.1 France (2003) ............................................................................................................ 57 5.1.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 59 5.1.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 61 5.2 North America (2006)................................................................................................ 62 5.2.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 65 5.2.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 68 5.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 69 6 Wildfires ....................................................................................................................... 71 2 COSMIC WP1 – Task 1.2 Deliverable 1.2: Report on search and rescue actions 6.1 Greece Wildfires (2007) ............................................................................................ 72 6.1.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 72 6.1.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 79 6.2 California Wildfires (2007) ........................................................................................ 80 6.2.1 Standard operating procedures ............................................................................. 81 6.2.2 Lessons learned .................................................................................................... 85 6.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 86 7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 88 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 93 3 COSMIC WP1 – Task 1.2 Deliverable 1.2: Report on search and rescue actions Change Records Issue Date Description Author (Company) Trilateral Research & Consulting and 0.1 08.09.2013 Internal review Crisislab. Trilateral Research & Consulting, 0.2 17.09.2013 Chapters revised Crisislab, Hellenic Rescue Team. 0.3 23.09.2013 Chapters compiled into a single deliverable Trilateral Research & Consulting 0.4 24.09.2013 Final copy RUN - Crisislab 4 COSMIC WP1 – Task 1.2 Deliverable 1.2: Report on search and rescue actions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of Task 1.2 “Crises involving search and rescue operations” was for COSMIC to examine a series of European and international case studies of different types of crises in order to understand lessons learned in search and rescue operations. Partners conducted an examination of five different types of crises, during which partners described the nature of the case study, provided an understanding of the standard operating procedures in place (or lack of) and discussed the lessons learned for search and rescue actions from the crisis. Specific case studies examined in this report can be seen in the table below. Table 1: Case studies included in this report Man-made 2005 London attacks Findings from the examination of case studies 2013 Boston attacks suggest that in the majority of situations, with Earthquake 1999 Greece the exception of the heatwave in France in 2010 Haiti 2003, standard operating procedures would Floods/Storms 2010 Storm Xynthia – France have been in place to ensure the appropriate 2005 Hurricane Katrina - USA organisations of response efforts. In some Extreme 2003 France cases such as for instance, responding to man- temperature 2006 North America (California) made crises such as that in London, search Wildfire 2007 Greece and rescue operations were not aligned to a 2007 California specific type of crisis, rather they were designed to respond to any major incident. In cases like the storm Xynthia in France the preparation and operation were insufficient to cope with the magnitude of the crisis. Partners analysis demonstrate that whilst standard operating procedures may have been in place prior to a crisis occurring, that is not to say that they will be optimally used or strictly followed, rather, as a crisis unfolds the demands of the crisis may call for an alternative response. Partners also identified within the case studies a shortage of effort on the authorities’ part to draw conclusions, after the crisis had struck, on their own operating procedures. A self- examination of what went according to plan and what did not is valuable as long as the shortcomings that are identified are corrected and procedures are amended accordingly. The findings should also be readily available to the public so that they are well informed and