Deploying an ERU

IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies process – the Surge alert system

Following a NSNational Society request for surge capacity support, alerts will be generated from the surge capacity desk in Geneva, as per the activation procedure, which depends on the category of emergency (local, regional or global). Alerts are sent out to the rapid response personnel registered with the surge desk, and to the surge focal points within PNSPartner National Society (in British Red Cross, this includes members of staff from HR, logistics and emergencies).

On-call roster members will be expected to answer the alert within 24 to 48 hours in order to be able to respond to the need without any delays.

Alerts follow previous standard operating procedures with Information, Alert, Stand down and Deployment messages:

Type of alert	Meaning
(I) Information	System members receive information of an event that may require surge support. No response is necessary, but surge personnel to do the pre-checking for possible deployment.
(A) Alert	Sent to all active participants that meet the basic required profile and surge focal points in PNSs. An immediate reply with details of availability is required.
(D) Deploy	Members receive an alert indicating who is deploying. Alert contains name, profile and NS.
(S) Stand down	Deployment request has been cancelled.

Available to download here.

A terms of reference (ToR) for the deployment should be provided with the alert message, containing the deployment requirements in terms of both the kit and personnel.

For more details on the IFRC’s internal ERUEmergency Response Unit (and other emergency response personnel) deployment procedures, see the compiled surge standard operating procedures available from the IFRC surge desk.

British Red Cross internal process

In parallel to the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies process, the British Red Cross will follow its own internal procedures as outlined in the Disaster Management Standard Operating Procedures (DMSOPs). The response lead ensures all decisions are logged and documented through the standard ETFEmergency Task Force/SATSociety Action Team records. Below is a summarised version of the British Red Cross process for deploying an ERUEmergency Response Unit:

View and download a flowchart detailing the process for deploying an ERU here.

Deployment

Before the decision is made to deploy the ERUEmergency Response Unit, logistics provide the ETFEmergency Task Force with preliminary information on:

After the decision to deploy is made, the below tasks must be completed per the allocated responsibilities.

If the ETF decides to deploy a British Red Cross ERU, based on the input of logistics but also of other teams such as security, finance and regional teams, the decision must also be made on the deployment location, including any suggestions to have a split deployment (with the ERU team split into different locations). This decision can be reviewed during the deployment, based on operational realities.

The below actions need to be completed:

Tasks relating to personnel deployment	Responsibility
Arrange briefing schedule	HR
Arrange mission float (maximum of $5,000)	Response lead
Collate operations briefing pack	Response lead
Notification of per diem allowance and advance	HR
Pre-deployment checks: insurance, medical	HR
Arrange flights and visa	HR
Request necessary kit, including workwear	Response lead
Issue kit to delegates	Logistics
Hand over mission float and related forms to delegates	International finance
Issue visibility items to delegates	HR
Notify in-country team (IFRC/ICRC) of itinerary	HR
Write-off value of kit deployed from the balance sheet and charge it to the relevant project code	International finance

Available to download here.

Note: a “briefing pack” is available from PIMS here. Reach out to international HR if you cannot access the documents through PIMS; they can share the briefing and debriefing templates upon request.

The kits are split into modules, designed around the various functions of the ERU. The ERU technical managers can advise which modules to deploy, based on the initial assessment received from the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. For more details on logistics’ responsibility and internal procedure to deploy an ERU, read the ERU kit standard operating procedure and/or request the ERU step-by-step process flowchart.

View and download a flowchart detailing the internal procedures for deploying an ERU here.

Monitoring the deployment

The ERUEmergency Response Unit deployment can last between one and four months, with a new team sent out to take over from the previous one every four weeks. The operational lead and the response lead have overall responsibility for managing the deployment. However, the logistics team is involved each time a new team is sent out and are responsible for the below points:

	Logistics ERU deployment	MSM ERU deployment
Kit issued to outbound team (IT and/or comms)	X	X
Kit received from returning team (IT and/or comms)	X	X
Collecting feedback from returning teams on the ERU kit (through the kit feedback form)	X	X
Attending briefings, as scheduled by HR	X	Optional
Attending debriefings, as scheduled by HR	X	Optional
Analysing and monitoring the ERU’s performance	X

Available to download here.

For more details on reporting requirements, read the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies standard reporting requirements for ERU deployments and refer to the annexed templates within the IFRC ERU standard operating procedures (2012).

ERU delegates’ appraisal

Emergency Response Unit managers are also involved in the appraisal process of all British Red Cross delegates returning from an ERU deployment. The team leader appraises the ERU team members (the FACTField Assessment and Coordination Team delegate appraises the ERU team leader) using the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies surge standard appraisal form, which is shared with IFRC surge desk, British Red Cross HR and the roster manager.

Each ERU delegate must complete two separate end-of-mission reports. The first one is operational, and the second is focused on HR aspects of the deployment. This latter report is confidential and only shared with British Red Cross HR. The operational report can be shared within British Red Cross and with IFRC when relevant.

ERU evaluation

When the ERUEmergency Response Unit intervention finishes (this can be after a full four-rotation deployment or fewer rotations, depending on the operational needs), it is good practice to request for an independent evaluation. Ideally a partner organisation should lead on the evaluation and present results to both the British Red Cross and the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and also to the relevant technical working groups to address suggested improvements.

Terms of reference for the evaluation should be drafted by the technical roster manager (logistics or MSMMass Sanitation Module) with the operational lead and response lead, capturing points fed back by delegates through their end-of-mission reports and situation reports shared during deployment. The evaluation should include a “satisfaction survey”, to understand how others involved in the response (other ERUs, PNSPartner National Society, the IFRC coordination structure, the HNSHost National Society and, where relevant, beneficiaries of support directly provided by the ERU) benefitted from its deployment. Standard Logistics ERU evaluation terms of reference are being developed by the Logistics ERU technical working group.

It is important to take the cost of evaluation into consideration when developing the budget for the response.

Read the next section on Replenishing the ERU kits here.

Download the full section here.