On 18th September 2018, the the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) visited Vietnam Red Cross Headquarters in Hanoi.
 |
| Meeting among Vietnam Red Cross Society, USAID and USFS |
The purpose of this mission of the USAID and USFS is to learn about the disaster response structure and the coordination mechanisms in Vietnam the role of each stakeholder in the response system and that of the Vietnam Red Cross in particular. The visit to Vietnam Red Cross Headquarters is part of the delegation mission to Vietnam, they will also meet with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other related ministries, agencies involved in disaster preparedness and response.
In the United States, on the purpose of designing a system to effectively coordinate interagency actions in disaster time, Incident Command System (ICS) resulted as a need for new approach to help responders from multiple agencies command, control, and coordinate emergency response within a common hierarchy after the largest wildfires incident in California’s history in 1970. At that time, too many people reported to one supervisor, different emergency response organizational structures were used, incident information was lacking or unreliable, radio systems were inadequate and incompatible, coordinated planning between agencies was practically non-existent, terminology differed between agencies, lines of authority were unclear, and probably the worst problem was that incident objectives were unclear or unspecified. By 1980, the ICS was recognized as a system that could also help public safety responders with floods, hazardous materials accidents, earthquakes, and aircraft crashes. More than 20 countries have already adopted the ICS, and other countries are also considering doing so.
Vietnam is one of the most hazard-prone areas in the East Asia and Pacific area. About 70 percent of its population is exposed to risks, such as typhoons, floods, droughts, sea water intrusion, landslides, forest fires and occasional earthquakes, USAID and USFS look forwards to an opportunity to bring added values to the disaster response system in Vietnam, both at national and local levels by introducing the ICS of the United States and exploring the exsisting gaps or overlaps which need the expertise support from the US.
Reported by: Thanh Binh