When minutes count following a major earthquake, certified first responders from the community can save lives.
In the past 20 years, earthquakes have caused significant fatalities globally. Specifically, between 1998 and 2017, earthquakes resulted in nearly 750,000 deaths worldwide, accounting for more than half of all deaths related to natural hazard events (disasters) during that period.
Since its formation in 1991, the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) has championed the development of disaster rescue (particularly to earthquake response) methodology including training programs to build local and international capacity.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 57/150 of 16 December 2002 on ‘Strengthening the effectiveness and coordination of international urban search and rescue assistance’ is a product of the work of the INSARAG, who pursued its creation. This United Nations General Assembly Resolution makes many pertinent points central to the work of the INSARAG. It also endorses the INSARAG Guidelines and Methodology.
General Assembly Resolution 57/150 importantly highlights that each state has the responsibility first and foremost, to take care of the victims of natural disasters occurring within its borders and that this affected state has primacy, ‘in the initiation, organisation, coordination and implementation of humanitarian assistance’. The resolution is clear that international USAR should supplement existing in- country capacity such as local rescuers, also reinforcing the importance of timely coordination of these resources.
The INSARAG First Responder Training programme is designed to build local capacity for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations in the initial stages of a collapse incident. This training focuses on developing the skills of existing local emergency services and community responders to meet the immediate needs of the affected population. This training is particularly valuable in areas where no organised USAR capability exists or where USAR response from structured teams may be delayed. By developing a network of trained First Responders, communities can enhance their initial response capabilities in the critical early stages of a collapse incident, potentially saving more lives and reducing the impact of disasters.
Though there is a global training resource for this program, historically there is has been no means to rapidly identify trained INSARAG First Responders. IPSQA’s certification CorePass® INSARAG First Responder provides summative assessment of candidates who have demonstrated the skill sand knowledge requirements of the training syllabus. Our certification also allows the candidates’s name to be presented in their own language, using unicode text. IPSQA does not certify training as this is up the UN member country to determine, but does provide a global quality assured record the candidate has performed the requirements laid out in the syllabus.
Whether used as a stand-alone assessment, or the assessment is integrated within a training programme, a summative assessment is performed by a designated IPSQA Assessor who will test the candidate against a range of skills and knowledge requirements including:
- Assessing the nature and scale of the incident.
- Conducting rescue operations and providing basic casualty care.
- Providing crucial information to domestic decision-makers.
- Requesting appropriate resources for rescue operations.
- Understanding building collapse dynamics.
- Managing impaled objects and arterial bleeding.
- Executing recovery position and stretcher transport techniques.
- Managing crush syndrome and burn injuries.
- Implementing spinal immobilization and patient packaging.
- Utilizing communication protocols and command structures effectively
Our CorePass® scheme is different from our other certifications (such as CertPubS®, DefraQual®, ProQual, WorkQual etc), as it does not use the ISO17024:2012 standard. This means the assessor can also be the candidate’s instructor and a lighter level of quality assurance applies. Assessment is still robust with the Accredited Testing Provider still required to ensure assessment tools used are compliant and that evidence is retained for external audit and moderation.
For candidates seeking certification for related rescue disciplines, IPSQA offers a range of other certification products including:
- IPSQA CorePass® Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
- IPSQA CorePass® First Aid I-IV (Basic to Advanced)
- IPSQA Certificate in Public Safety (USAR Light Technician)
- IPSQA Certificate in Public Safety (USAR Medium Technician)
- IPSQA Certificate in Public Safety (USAR Heavy Technician)
- IPSQA ProQual: NFPA 1006 – Structural Collapse (Operator & Technician)
- IPSQA ProQual: NFPA 1006 – Confined Space Rescue (Operator & Technician)
Candidates must demonstrate skills consistently with approved references such as the United Nations INSARAG First Responder Training Package and FEMA Structural Collapse Technician Manual (excluding markings and other content that is not aligned to INSARAG methodology).
Contact us or your local Accredited Testing Centre for further information.
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