Sphere India - URS Response Cycles

• URS Response Cycles

9) Initial Response Cycle Variant A (Where the disaster is recurring in nature, small scale and state URS groups can independently deal with the emergency)

Initial Response Cycle: Situation A


URS response cycle in Variant A is set in the context of minor disasters/emergencies that are recurring in nature for example, annual floods, dought/famine, heat and cold wave and any other communicable disease. Once an incident takes place( at N hrs) in any of the pilot states, the SDMT would meet ideally within N+12 hrs and collect information about the event from the respective district-level URS group, implementing and partner organizations. Based on the incident analysis done by the SDMT, a SITREP would be send to CDMT based at Delhi within N+ 36 hrs. The CDMT is obliged to meet within N+24 hrs of the reported incident. SDMT would simultaneously conduct rapid damage assessment about the incident, compile data, analysis media reports, Govt. update and other agency sources. The SDMT would decide in consultation with the CDMT whether to activate (N + 36 hrs) or not to activate URS based on existing capacities of State URS group. Activation of URS would subsequently lead to the launch of SOS among CDMT, SDTM and URS Virtual teams. The SDMT would respond in a unified manner within N+ 66 to 72 hrs of the incident

Variant B (Where scale of disaster is large and INGOs’ do not have long-term partners in the disaster region)



In this variant the Center Disaster Management Team (CDMT) would facilitate SDMT in the operation of large-scale Standardized Operating System (SOS), However the response will be lead by local URS groups or the State Disaster Management Teams (SDMT), which would involve local ngos and community based organizations(CBO’s) who already have presence and capacity in the disaster affected regions.

Variant C (Where the scale of disaster is large, lots of agencies want to respond and the state URS group is not able to independently deal with the emergency)


Initial URS Response Cycle: Situation B

Once an incident takes place( at N hrs) in any of the pilot states, the SDMT would meet ideally within N+12 hrs and collect information about the event from the respective district-level URS group, implementing and partner organizations. Based on the incident analysis done by the SDMT, a SITREP would be send to CDMT based at Delhi within N+ 24hrs. The CDMT is obliged to meet within N+24 hrs of the reported incident. SDMT would simultaneously conduct rapid damage assessment about the incident, compile data and forward its recommendation( along with diagnosis of the scale of disaster) to CDMT within N+ 32 hrs. Based on SDMT’s incident analysis ( the lack of existing state URS capacities) rapid damage assessment, media reports, Govt. update and other agency sources the CDMT in consultation with SDMT would decide whether to activate (N + 36 hrs) or not to activate URS. Activation of URS would subsequently lead to the launch of SOS among CDMT, SDTM and URS Virtual teams. The SDMT would respond in a unified manner within N+ 66 to 72 hrs of the incident.

Variant D (Where the URS is activated by the center disaster management team in Delhi)



Once an incident takes place( at N hrs) in any of the pilot states, the SDMT would meet ideally within N+12 hrs and collect information about the event from the respective district-level URS group, implementing and partner organizations. Based on the incident analysis done by the SDMT, a SITREP would be send to CDMT based at Delhi within N+ 24hrs. The CDMT is obliged to meet within N+24 hrs of the reported incident. SDMT would simultaneously conduct rapid damage assessment about the incident,compile data and forward it to CDMT within N+ 32 hrs. Based on SDMT’s incident analysis , rapid damage assessment, media reports, Govt. update and other agency sources the CDMT would decide whether to activate (N + 36 hrs) or not to activate URS or wait for more time to make the decision.

Non-activation of URS would imply the following :
• Incident was of small scale or it affected very few numbers of individuals or families or only a very small geographical area. • Local response mechanisms, including that of the district administration, local NGO’s and CBO’s have been adequate to meet the needs of the affected populations. • Assessment team is unable to follow up with response activities due to constraints (lack of human and/or financial resources, not permitted to respond by government, response requiring specialists (people or equipments) that are lacking, • Inability to respond due to complex emergency and lack of accessibility (civil unrest, area not secure) • Asymmetry of information and lack of counter checking mechanisms.

Activation of URS would subsequently lead to the launch of SOS among CDMT, SDTM and URS Virtual teams. The SDMT would respond in a unified manner within N+ 66 to 72 hrs of the incident.

9a) Center Disaster Management Team (CDMT)
The CDMT would comprise of senior professionals of SPHERE URS sub-committee member organizations and would be responsible for the activation or non-activation of URS in the pilot states. Representative members of local NGO networks would also be part of the CDMT. Each member organization/member will have pre assigned roles and responsibilities based on their sector and geographical comparative advantage. CDMT would agree on a standardized logistics, administrative, communication, liaison and financial understanding (also part of Standardized Operating System or SOS) once the URS is activated. CDMT would conduct capacity mapping and will identify , brief and maintain a manpower roster. Members on the roster would be part of the CDMT virtual team which would only come in to existence after the activation of URS.
Other key components of CDMT during the activation of URS are : • Virtual URS response team • Information point • Liaison point • Site Safety point

9b) State Disaster Management Team (SDMT)
The SDMT would comprise of senior professionals of URS sub-committee member organizations at state-level and representatives from local organizations or networks. Each member organization/member will have pre assigned roles and responsibilities based on their sector and geographical comparative advantage. SDMT would agree on a standardized logistics, administrative, communication, liaison and financial understanding (also part of Standardized Operating System or SOS) once the URS is activated. CDMT would also conduct capacity mapping and will identify , brief and maintain a manpower roster.

Other key components of SDMT when URS is activated are :
• Virtual URS response team • Information point • Liaison point • Site Safety point The SDMT is responsible for applying SOS once URS is activated by the CDMT. The SOS or standardized operating system are set of pre-determined and pre-positioned mechanisms which would aid in implementing an effective unified response.

9c) Response Mechanism
A unified response would require good coordination and clear objectives for each of the team members and hence needs a set of standardized operating procedures and systems to determine and agree who, what, where, how and when.