Emergency Response Unit (IFRC)

[1] Notable deployments After a disaster, the local Red Cross Society immediately responds by assessing the situation.

If the local Society decides they can't handle it themselves they send a request to the Red Cross Headquarters in Geneva.

The Headquarters quickly deploys a FACT-Team and sends a request to the national societies which provide ERUs.

This request is to assess how much staff is available for a mission into the affected country and if they can deploy a whole unit, only personnel or only materials.

It is also common that the equipment stay in the country, because the transport back would be more expensive and in most cases at the end of the mission the national staff is perfectly trained.

FACT-Teams can be deployed within 24 hours and comprise highly trained and experienced disaster managers.

Are deployed to establish local communication networks and ensure the information system in the operation works.

This unit provides water purification and distribution as well as the planning and initiating of latrine construction programmes, garbage collection and disposal programmes, burial of corpses, vector control and protection such as spraying of health installations, latrines, garbage disposal points, stagnant water ponds against flies, fleas, rats, and mosquitoes, initiating hygiene education and promotion.

This units is in other words a field hospital and provides the medical care for approximately 250,000 people.

[4] The Canadian Red Cross has 2 units able to be deployed in the fields of Basic Health Care and Referral Hospital.

Additionally, Australia, Croatia, Hong Kong, Iceland and North Macedonia support relief efforts with trained staff members.