ERU human resources

When a NSNational Society chooses to hold an ERUEmergency Response Unit of any type, they commit to having specialist personnel available to deploy within 24 to 48 hours at any time. This commitment implies that they will recruit, train and roster a pool of specialists large enough to support four rotations of the ERU they hold.

Recruiting an ERU

Recruiting ERUEmergency Response Unit personnel is different from hiring staff, as ERU delegates will not be employed by the recruiting NSNational Society unless they are already a staff member. Instead, they will be trained and asked to volunteer for periods of time where they can be on standby for deployment within 24 to 48 hours after the ERU is called for by the surge desk at the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

ERU delegates only join the staff of a NS when they deploy, and they are usually not paid salaries until then, although they can be paid retainers for the time they are on call. When deployed, the deploying NS seconds the ERU delegates to the IFRC.

Recruiting for an ERU is also challenging because a successful recruitment relies on finding a rare mix of skills and experience:

Recruiting for an ERU is usually done jointly between a technical ERU manager and HR colleagues. In British Red Cross, this is a member of the logistics team (usually the logistics manager), a member from the emergencies, surge and technical advisory (ESTA) team, a member from the learning and development team and the international rosters and registers coordinator in HR. It requires careful planning and constant communication with internal stakeholders.

Typically, the recruitment of ERU roster delegates takes several months and is split as below:

The recruitment for ERU members is separated into two different stages: recruitment and training. It is important to note that candidates are only considered ERU members after they successfully “pass” the training pathway, which consists of both classroom training and simulation exercises.

Once recruited, ERU members are made “deployment-ready” by:

The National Society sponsoring an ERU covers salaries, benefits, insurance and travel costs of personnel during training and operations. It is also responsible for putting the team together, as well as making sure it has the necessary skills and experience. Each member must adhere to the International Federation’s code of conduct.

The British Red Cross maintains two Logistics ERUs and one MSMMass Sanitation Module ERU, which means that the minimum size of the ERU pools should be 16 to 24 logisticians and 16 to 24 MSM delegates.

Training ERU personnel

Once the recruitment phase is completed, the training pathway begins. In the British Red Cross, training is a two or three-phase process.

Impact and Foundation can either be delivered together or separately. In between each of these formal, face-to-face training phases, independent, at-home training modules must also be completed.

For more detailed information, see the latest version of the British Red Cross ERU candidate guide, which is attached to the advertisement for ERU membership and sent to all applicants to help them understand the recruitment process.

The requirement is currently for all candidates to follow the training pathway in person, but this may change in the future with the use of remote/online training.

Maintaining an active roster

Once candidates enter the ERUEmergency Response Unit, they are added to a roster.

Each ERU technical manager engages differently with their respective rosters through the international rosters and registers coordinator in the HR team. Regular touchpoints are:

At any of the above touchpoints, it is important to reconsider the roster members’ competencies, and to capture any changes on the roster. Members’ competencies should be registered on a mapping matrix, maintained by the ERU manager and the international rosters and registers coordinator. The current matrix can be requested from the Logs team.

Note: members can request to be put on hold, or they can be put on hold by decision of the ERU technical managers, based on lack of competencies or commitment. In order to become active again, they must usually complete all or part of the ERU training pathway or attend a refresher conference.

ERU equipment

When a NSNational Society offers to sponsor an ERUEmergency Response Unit, they commit to having a team of experts on standby for rapid deployment, as well as a standard, specialised kit ready to support the team in fulfilling their mission. For more details about the content of the ERU kits, see the Logistics ERUs and the MSM20 ERU sections.

The sponsoring NS agrees to procure, store and maintain the kit, and to participate in the development of the standard kit composition as relevant, through feeding back on the appropriateness of kit following deployments.

At the British Red Cross, the content of both ERU kits are procured mostly through framework agreements, by the LOGELogistics Officer for Global Emergencies and with the approval of the global response manager. After a kit has been deployed, its replenishment must be approved by the global response manager, as well as any changes to the kit proposed following kit feedback (see the Replenishing the ERU kits section).

The items received are kitted into modules (the MSMMass Sanitation Module kit has 38 modules in total, split into eight families, while the logistics ERU has 14 modules, split into seven families) and stored at the international warehouse in Bulwick.

Some of the kits’ contents, such as vehicles and cold-weather-specific equipment, is common to both ERUs – these are called the “shared modules” and can be deployed with either ERU kit.

The warehouse officer is responsible for ensuring the safety and maintenance of the entire ERU equipment. This includes vehicles, generators, all electric appliances and safety equipment such as fire extinguishers.

The value of the ERU kits is managed as an investment, where British Red Cross funds the purchases until the kit is charged to an emergency operation. Until then, the value of the kit sits on a balance sheet that captures additions, write-offs and disposals to the kit while it is in stock. For more details on this procedure, refer to the ERU kit standard operating procedure and the balance sheet guidance note held by the logistics team.

Financial commitments

All the costs associated with maintaining an ERUEmergency Response Unit’s preparedness outside of a response operation are covered by the sponsoring NSNational Society. This includes storage costs and maintenance costs for the kit, but also retainers for on-call delegates and training costs. The storage and maintenance costs are budgeted for by the logistics team, and funds become part of the logistics framework, while retainer costs fall under the HR budget and training costs under the learning and development budget.

When the decision is made to deploy one of the British Red Cross ERUs, the cost of deployment is covered by the British Red Cross, as a pledge to the IFRCInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies-led operation. The decision to apply later for back-funding from the IFRC appeal is made depending on funds available from the British Red Cross.

During the deployment, operational costs can be charged to the IFRC, while running costs must be covered by the British Red Cross.

A table listing the most common types of expenditure of an ERU deployment and the nature of costs involved here.

In summary, the breakdown of costs is usually as below:

Available to download here.

Read the next section on Deploying an ERU here.

Download the full section here.