USTDA Sector Brief - Emergency Management/Response

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) supports a wide range of emergency management/ response development activities in developing and middle-income countries. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. Many USTDA-funded activities have helped forge strong relationships between host country sponsors and U.S. businesses, while assisting foreign entities in improving their ability to react quickly and effectively to emergencies.

The following is an illustrative list of emergency management/response projects that USTDA has supported:

East Asia

China: Emergency Medical Response Services – USTDA funded an orientation visit to the United States for officials from municipal governments and local health bureaus from Sichuan Province in China. The Chinese Ministry of Health had recently charged the Sichuan Provincial Health Bureau with developing and implementing an Emergency Medical Response (EMR) system throughout the province. During the visit, the delegates were introduced to EMR best practices and met with U.S. vendors of EMR equipment and services.

Europe and Eurasia

Bulgaria: Integrated Emergency Management System – USTDA provided $291,340 for a feasibility study to provide the Bulgarian Ministry of Disaster Management Policy with the necessary architecture for an integrated emergency management system (IEMS) in Plovdiv. Winbourne and Costas, Inc., of Washington DC is conducting the study.

Romania: Next Generation Network Infrastructure for Emergency Management – USTDA is providing a $700,000 grant to the Special Telecommunications Service of Romania for a feasibility study that will determine the technical requirements for a Next Generation Network that will improve Romania's capacity to manage emergencies. The proposed telecommunications system will enable users to share voice, data and multimedia content instantly, and irrespective of service provider or the user’s location within in the system. Telecordia Technologies of Piscataway, NJ is conducting the study.

Romania: DESWAT Abatement and Control of Water Disasters – USTDA provided $449,000 in grant assistance to the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Water and Environment for the development of an integrated decision and information system for water emergencies and secondary pilot project on the abatement and control of water disasters (DESWAT). The project assisted the Romanians in the testing and selection of weather prediction technology with which to combat the sizable economic and human costs caused by dangerous flooding every year. Burgess & Niple of Columbus, OH carried out the pilot project. As a result of the success of the pilot project, Lockheed Martin Corporation signed a $28.7 million contract with the Government of Romania.

Romania: National Emergency Management System – A $268,170 technical assistance grant was awarded to the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior to assist in coordinating projects within emergency agencies at the national and county level, and in evaluating the telecommunications networks and environmental monitoring infrastructure needed to implement a national emergency management system. decision/analysis partners of Fairfax, VA is conducting the assistance.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil State of Rio de Janeiro Integrated Disaster Response System – USTDA provided a $704,970 technical assistance grant for the Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for Civil Defense (SEDC) to support the establishment of an emergency operations center (EOC) and demonstrate the functionality of its core technologies. The EOC will provide the critical infrastructure needed to coordinate emergency services during natural and technological disasters and major events. The technical assistance includes the design of the EOC and the specification of equipment and technologies as well as procuring and integrating the core technologies. The technical assistance will provide SEDC with the tools needed to develop an integrated emergency management system and a strategic implementation plan.

Brazil Petrobras Refinery Fire Control – USTDA provided a $590,394 technical assistance grant to help Brazil's national oil company Petrobras develop a comprehensive plan to upgrade fire control and process safety at its refineries, develop standards for fire control installations and systems for its existing and new refinery projects, and to develop a training program for refinery personnel.

Dominican Republic Emergency Response Management System – USTDA provided a $600,000 feasibility study grant to the Department of Planning and Programs of the Dominican Republic’s Secretariat of the Interior and Police in order to support the development of an integrated national public safety and emergency response management system. The study aims to enhance public safety and improve the investment climate by modernizing the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure to provide real-time emergency call response.

Peru Lambayeque Flood Control System – USTDA provided a $394,940 feasibility study grant to the Regional Government of Lambayeque to support the development of the La Leche River Flood Control project in northern Peru. The study aims to enhance flood control and water conservation in a region that has suffered major floods caused by the El Niño meteorological phenomenon.

Middle East and North Africa

Algeria: Oil Spill Response and Port Security – USTDA funded an Oil Spill Response and Port Security orientation visit to familiarize a delegation of Algerian officials with U.S. policy and practices in the area of oil spill response and port security, including the U.S. Container Security Initiative, oil spill prevention standards, rapid response procedures, and the implementation of a National Response Plan. The delegation was introduced to U.S. oil spill response and port security practices and technologies, including state-of-the-art containment and cleanup equipment, and gamma-ray scanners and transportation security technology for port applications. Delegates met with U.S. suppliers, national associations, and federal agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard, during the visit.

South and Southeast Asia

South and Southeast Asia Region: Tsunami Recovery – Following the December 2004 tsunami, USTDA funded a team of marine specialists to conduct a one-week environmental damage assessment with Royal Thai Government officials along the Andaman (Indian Ocean) coast. USTDA also provided $597,000 for technical assistance on the Disaster Warning Systems Integration and Capacity Development Project for the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC). A variety of hardware computing systems and software applications specialized in processing of warning information were donated to NDWC, but the disparate systems are currently managed as separate and manual processes. Assistance is being conducted by the East-West Center to integrate these separate computer systems and improve its mechanisms for warning communities of natural and man-made disasters.

Indonesia: Disaster Management Plan and Technology Strategy – USTDA awarded a $650,000 grant to Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika, Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, for technical assistance on the development of a disaster management plan and technology strategy. This assistance will help Indonesia to integrate and modernize its disparate disaster management systems, so that it may implement a functioning Tsunami Early Warning System and Command and Control Center. Techno-Sciences, Inc. is conducting this assistance.

Sri Lanka: Early Warning System/Disaster Management/Emergency Communications – USTDA is providing over $1 million to assist in improving Sri Lanka’s emergency management capabilities. USTDA awarded a $398,000 grant to Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology to facilitate data collection and real-time information flow on distant seismic events and oceanographic indicators that might cause weather-related disasters. A second grant, in the amount of $375,000, to Sri Lanka’s National Disaster Management Center (DMC) will develop standard operating procedures for the newly formed entity and ensure timely emergency communication and notification procedures to government officials, emergency first responders, and the public. A third grant, in the amount of $305,000, to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights is providing technical assistance to the DMC in assessing emergency communications technology needs and developing the procurement tenders for systems and services.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Nigerian Stock Exchange Disaster Recovery Plan and Systems Backup – A $236,410 USTDA grant is funding technical assistance to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the development of an emergency response system that will involve the procurement of back-up software and hardware, and include plans for the establishment of a secure, secondary location in case of an emergency. The objective of the project is to provide a mechanism for continuous trading and support of the NSE in case of failure of the main building or main equipment. The NSE presently does not have a disaster recovery facility. The consultant will review existing IT systems and plans, existing hardware and communications infrastructure, and will develop a strategic plan, specifications, and an implementation plan for a disaster recovery facility. The contractor is being competitively selected.