A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Drachir with extensive damage, a fictitious developing country with a history of political rivalry and instability, conflict and deteriorating infrastructure, and with existing humanitarian concerns.
Several villages are devastated, roads are blocked with landslides in various places, and main town is at risk of flooding from an overfilling river. Obstructive police, restricted communications, logistical complications, refugee management, displaced violent ethnic groups, constant security and terrorist threats, kidnappings, severe humanitarian violations, curfews and militarised zones further prevailed the situation.
This was the scenario presented in SimEx2016, a medium scale emergency response exercise focusing on Urban Search and Rescue, humanitarian assessment and response in the initial phase of an emergency, organised by the University of Portsmouth, UK in May, involving over 400 participants.
Students from the MSc in Crisis and Disaster Management acted as the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, organising response and relief efforts to assist the devastated country.
The disaster management process called...
