The INSARAG Medical Working Group (MWG) in keeping with UN General Assembly Resolution 57/150 on “Strengthening the Effectiveness and Coordination of International Urban Search and Rescue Assistance” aims to enhance the INSARAG Guidelines that will enable the medical component of a USAR team and develop relevant medical guidance notes. MWG was established in 2008 with the endorsement from the INSARAG Steering Committee in 2007. This inter-regional working group aims to focus on the medical requirements of international USAR teams being deployed outside their countries of origin. The group meets two to three times a year. The reports of this working group’s meetings can be found below. The medical guidance notes prepared by this working group and endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group can be found in the ‘Methodology’ tab.

Name	Country	Organisation	Region	Position	Email
Anthony Macintyre	USA	USAID	Americas	Co-chair	[email protected]
Hector Fuentes	Australia	AUS-1 DART	Asia-Pacific	Co-chair	[email protected]
Thomas Eckhardt	Netherlands	USAR.NL	AEME	Member	[email protected]; [email protected]
Malcolm Russell	UK	ISAR	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Will Selley	UK	SARAID	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Kevin Ousman	WHO	WHO	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Charlotte Coopmann	France	PUI-FRA01	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Taigo Sakamoto	Japan		Asia-Pacific	Member	[email protected]
Peng Bibo	China	China	Asia-Pacific	Member	[email protected]
Vincenzo Borgna	Chile	CHI-01	Americas	Member	[email protected]
Trevor Glass	UK		AEME	Associate Technical Expert Member	[email protected]>

2023

Chairman`s Summary – AAR and AEME Regional Meeting 2023 Qatar

Chairman’s Summary – Team Leaders Meeting 2023 Singapore

Participant List – Team Leaders Meeting 2023 Singapore

2022

MWG Geneva 2022 Chairman’s Summary Link

Attachment A: Participant List Link

Attachment B: MWG Agenda Link

Attachment C: MWG Input into the Flexible Response WG Link

Attachment D: MWG Update 10 May Link

Attachment E: Common Elements of Essential Information Relevant to both INSARAG and WHO EMTs Link

Attachment F: Hospital Assessment V4 Link

Attachment G: Recommendations regarding the documentation of vaccinations given to Team Members Link

2021

Joint Statement Issued by INSARAG MWG and WHO EMT – V19 May 2021 Link

Medical Working Group Monthly meeting minutes_May 2021 Link

Medical Working Group Covid-19 USAR Response Technical Note Link

2020

Medical Working Group Virtual Meeting minutes held on 27 August 2020 Link

 2018

Attached the updated Medical Working Group, which was held in Romania

Medical WG update

2017

The INSARAG Medical Working Group (MWG) met in Bali, Indonesia, on the 16-17 October 2017.
This meeting was hosted by BASARNAS of the Indonesia Government and co-organised by the INSARAG Secretariat.
Representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) participated in the meeting as well.

A-Agenda

B-Membership

C-Defining USAR medicine

D-INSARAG USAR Medical Team acceptance

E-Common essential elements of information between USAR and EMT

F-Patient Treatment Form Final

 

INSARAG MWG Meeting Minutes. 

2015

The INSARAG Medical Working Group (MWG) met in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the 15-16 October 2015.
This meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Interior of the Government of the United Arab Emirates and co-organised by the INSARAG Secretariat.
Representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) participated in the meeting as well.
Chairman’s summary of MWG Meeting 2015

2012

FIRST MEETING, 19-23 MARCH 2012, AUSTRALIA
The first meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2012 took place from 19-23 March 2012 in Australia parallel with the INSARAG Team Leaders Meeting. Below is the Chairman Summary and outcomes of this meeting. Please note that these outcomes are not official INSARAG documents until they are endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group.
Chairman Summary (English)
Patient Treatment Record

2011

FIRST MEETING, 30 MARCH-03 APRIL 2011, COSTA RICA
The first meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2011 took place from 30 March–03 April 2011 in Costa Rica back to back with the INSARAG Team Leaders Meeting. Below is the Chairman Summary and outcomes of this meeting. Please note that these outcomes are not official INSARAG documents until they are endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group.

Final Chairman Summary INSARAG MWG 2011 (English)
Annex A MWG Participants List
Annex B Final MWG Meeting Agenda
Annex C Emerg2011Poster
Annex D Cuba Meeting Proceedings
Annex E Survival Interval in Earthquake Entrapments
Annex F Optimizing Medical Response to Large Scale Disasters The Ad Hoc Collaborative Health Care System Letter to editor

SECOND MEETING, 18-22 NOVEMBER 2011, SOUTH AFRICA
The second and last meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2011 took place from 18-22 November 2011 in South Africa back to back with the INSARAG/UNDAC Awareness Training. Please note that these outcomes are not official INSARAG documents until they are endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group.
Chairman Summary

Outcomes of the meeting can be found below:
Medical Relief After Earthquakes: It’s Time for a New Paradigm
INSARAG Patient Treatment Record

2010

FIRST MEETING, 21-25 MARCH 2010, UAE
The first meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2010 took place from 21-25 March 2010 in UAE in parallel with the INSARAG Team Leaders Meeting. Please find attached the Chairman Summary and its annexes/outcomes of this meeting. Please note that these outcomes are not official INSARAG documents until they are endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group.
INSARAG MWG Meeting Chairman Summary (English)
Annex A Meeting Participants
Annex B MWG Terms of Reference
Annex C Summary of Discussions Points
Annex D Draft Recovery and Deceased
Annex E Data Collection and Publication
Annex F IEC Expert Classifier CV Form
Annex G IEC Schedule

SECOND MEETING, 24-28 MAY 2010, SWITZERLAND
The second meeting of the INSARAG MWG for 2010 took place from 24-28 May 2010 in Switzerland before the INSARAG Steering Group Meeting. Please find attached the Chairman Summary and its annexes/outcomes of this meeting. Please note that these outcomes are not official INSARAG documents until they are endorsed by the INSARAG Steering Group.
INSARAG MWG Meeting Chairman Summary (English)
INSARAG Guidelines Medical Supplement 24.05.10 – Final.doc
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE Provision of Medical Care
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE Recovery of Deceased 
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE USAR Medical Donations
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE Identification of USAR Medical Personnel
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE INSARAG Medical Handover Form
Draft MEDICAL GUIDANCE NOTE Post Mission Medical Reporting

THIRD MEETING, 13-17 SEPTEMBER 2010, JAPAN
The third and last meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2010 took place from 13-17 September 2010 in Japan in parallel with the INSARAG Global Meeting. Please find attached the Chairman Summary.
INSARAG MWG Meeting Chairman Summary (English)

2009

FIRST MEETING, 13-16 JANUARY 2009, UAE
The first meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2009 took place from 13-16 January 2009 in UAE. Please find attached the Chairman Summary and its annexes/outcomes of this meeting.
Chairman Summary

SECOND MEETING, 15-17 APRIL 2009, AUSTRALIA
The second meeting of the INSARAG MWG in 2009 took place from 15-17 April 2009 in Australia. Please find attached the Chairman Summary and its annexes/outcomes of this meeting.
Chairman Summary

2008

FIRST MEETING, 8-10 MAY 2008, UK
The inaugural meeting of the INSARAG MWG took place from 8-10 May 2008 in UK back-to-back with the INSARAG Team Leaders Meeting. Please find attached the Chairman Summary this meeting.
Chairman Summary

Current LTQAWG membership:

Brad Commens	Australia	Asia-Pacific	Co-Chair	[email protected]
Rob Davis	UK	AEME	Co-Chair	[email protected]
Christophe Debray	France	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Johannes Gust	Germany	AEME	Member	[email protected]
Cem Behar	Turkey	AEME	Member	[email protected]

2022 Update

The first Light USAR IEC was completed during the INSIEME Exercise in Switzerland from 21-24 November 2021. This exercise had previously bee delayed by 18 months due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and was conducted in the colder months, providing additional challenges for all teams. Following the successful exercise a review of the IEC was conducted by the LTQAWG via VidCon on 20 December 2021 after the IEC report was released.

A Review of Light USAR Team Classification – @fire November 2021 was prepared to review the Process, Observations and Recommendations from the Light IEC, and was provided to the INSARAG Secretariat on 28 January 2022. A follow up meeting was held in conjunction with the Team Leader’s meeting in Qatar on 7&8 March 2022, confirming that:

• The Light USAR IEC process has been developed and proven in practice.
• A review of the Light IEC process has been completed
• No changes to the Checklist are currently recommended
• Further improvements to the concept are expected in the future for flexibility as required by INSARAG.
• Classified Light Teams will provide more Classifiers to the global pool.
• Light USAR team concept is progressing for recognition by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (ECPM) in 2022. RE: Council Decision No. 1313/2013/EU
• Three Light USAR Teams are progressing to IEC in 2022

Recommendations were tabled during the Team Leaders meeting for the LTQAWG to transition to a reference group (Light Team Quality Assurance Reference Group – LTQARG), to provide technical and concept advice to Teams, Mentors and Classifiers involved in future Light USAR IEC/R activities, until the concept is universally accepted and understood throughout the network. This recommendation was approved by the INSARAG Steering Group (ISG) during the HNPW meeting on 10 May 2022, transitioning the group to LTQARG.

Three Light USAR IEC’s are planned for 2022 for teams; GEA-Turkey; SARAID – United Kingdom; and Cyprus. The LTQARG update information from the 2022 ISG are here. 

Review of Light Team Classification – @fire November 2021

Workplans:

2021-2022

A LTQAWG meeting was conducted in conjunction with the @fire pre-exercise brief on 28 September 2021 (Slide brief provided). This meeting provided an overview of the Light USAR concept and considerations for the upcoming IEC (@fire).

The key discussion points during the virtual meeting included the overview of a light team IEC, and the focus on achieving the required assessment items in a reduced timeframe, as a result of only two work periods instead of the standard three periods for a continuous 24 hour exercise.

In November 2021, the first classification of a Light USAR team (@fire) to INSARAG IEC standards was completed as part of the INSIEME excercise, in Geneva.

Following the Light USAR IEC, a review of the process will be conducted by the LTQAWG members to highlight any areas of amendment required to progress the Light IEC process for future benefit.

This review will require the disclosure of the Light IEC report by the @fire team to assist with the analysis of the effective classification process.

A final LTQAWG meeting is planned fot the Working Group/Team Leader meeting in Qatar in March 2022, at which time a decision on the future of the LTQAWG will be agreed.

LTWG Review of @fire IEC

October 2019 Team Leaders Meeting Chile

INSARAG Light team Working Group Chairman Summary 

Attached, the Classified Light Usar Team Position

Completed work of the LTWG:

The document “Introduction LT” describes the concept of International Light Teams. At this moment the Guidelines text for the GRG has been assembled and rewritten on the Light concept and needs a final check to see if it is complete. The results will be shared with you before the coming summer holidays.

The document “Quality Assurance explanations” describes the advice of the LTWG to the new QAWG. A PowerPoint presentation is added to clarify the text and to show how a classification process could be setup for International Light. And at the same time could be used for a discussion about the classification process for Medium and Heavy in the future in the attempt to reduce the amount of work to assure the existing quality.

The document “USAR scale” explains the differences between national, regional and international deployment of USAR teams and the need for the type of quality assurance. The LTWG thinks that this document will clarify the inter-linkage between International Light teams and existing systems National-, Neighbour assistance- and classified International Medium and Heavy teams. A PowerPoint “National Regional and International assistance scale”  is added to show the build-up of a large scale incident.

The document “LTWG Meeting Chairman summary Valabre” is a reflection of the work of the LTWG during the final meeting in France in April 2017.

2018

• Designing the classification process for Light Teams and preparing the documentation for the implementation of international light teams in the system

Light Team WG update

At the INSARAG Steering Group Meeting (ISG) in 2016, the group directed the Secretariat to initiate the establishment of an INSARAG Light Teams Working Group (LTWG) with clear terms of reference and to request INSARAG regional groups to nominate suitable members. Relevant members from existing working groups could be co-opted. The LTWG will take the lead and, following consultations with the regional groups in 2016, present the recommendations to the ISG of 2017 for a decision.

The LTWG is made up of representatives coming from the three INSARAG Regional Groups, and are selected from different USAR Teams Heavy, Medium and non-classified teams selected by the Secretariat. The LTWG is chaired by Arjan Stam, Team leader from the Dutch USAR team, chair of the UCC in the earthquake of Nepal, IEC/IER Team leader and the member of the GRG.

The first meeting of the LTWG was held in Geneva from 15-17 June 2016 and was also attended by the Chair of the TWG Mr Dewey Perks.

Chairman’s Summary – First LTWG Meeting 15-17 June 2016

Discussion paper

Proposal External support and Validation process National Accreditation_ENG

The list of approved members for the GRG from 2018 to 2020

Co-Chair of GRG, Mr. David Sochor and Mr. Anwar Abdullah

Name	Country	Position	Email address
David Sochor	Switzerland	Co-Chair	[email protected]
Anwar Abdullah	Singapore	Co-Chair	[email protected]
Annika Coll	Spain	Member	[email protected]
Sebastian Mocarquer	Chile	Member	[email protected]
Silvia Ballen	Colombia	Member	[email protected]
Johnny Ramírez Zumbado	Costa Rica	Member	[email protected]
David Lewis	Australia	Member	[email protected]
Paul Burns	New Zealand	Member	[email protected]
Chen Hong	China	Member	[email protected]
Mohammed Alshahrani	Saudi	Member	[email protected]
Firas Falah Abu Al Sondos	Jordan	Member	[email protected];  [email protected];
Samghouli Soufian	Morocco	Member	[email protected]
Belit Tasdemir	Turkey	Member	[email protected]
Martin Evers	Netherlands	Member	[email protected]
Vasily Evseev	Russia	Member	[email protected];  [email protected]

2020                                                                                                                                                        

The 7th GRG meeting took place from 3 to 5 February in Geneva

Chairman Summary

Annex A – Feedback on INSARAG Guidelines 2020

Annex B – Shifting of Selected Annexes, Forms and Checklists

Annex C – Updates to INSARAG.org (INSARAG Guidelines, TRL, Guidance Notes

Salient Pointers: Co-Chairmanship Working Model – GRG 2020

GRG 2020_ Co-Chair Write-up document

2019

The 6th GRG Meeting took place from 9 to 11 December 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands

Chairman Summary

Coverning Note on TRL and Guidance Notes

Annex C _ TRL Navigation Overview

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The 5th GRG Meeting took place from 6 to 8 October 2019 in Santiago de Chile, Chile

Agenda

Meeting Opening

Chairman Summary

GRG Anney A proposal for coour coding system

Key Takeaways for GRG TWG Meeting

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Final version of the 3rd GRG Meeting Chairman Summary which took place from 4 to 8 February in Geneva during the Humanitarian Network Partnership Week (HNPW)

3rd GRG Meeting Chairman Summary

4th Meeting of GRG, 12-14 June 2019, Singapore

The INSARAG Guidelines Review Group(GRG) Meeting hosted by the Co-Chair, Singapore, is taking place this week with 15 expert participants from 11 countries representing the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle-East, and the Asia-Pacific regional groups. The INSARAG Steering Group as directed the GRG to conduct the 5 yearly extensive review and consultations with the global network for a version 2020-25, and to be launched at the 30^th Anniversary of INSARAG in Warsaw, Poland in October 2020.

The INSARAG Guidelines are the cornerstone of the globally accepted global standards as endorsed by UN GA 57/150 of 16 December 2002 and guides member countries on urban seach and rescue(USAR) preparedness and response arrangements.

     

2018

The GRG 2020 also apprised the TLs on the overall plan and current status of work.

In the breakout session, the GRG 2020 will engage the TLs on the matter of the Technical Guidance Reference Library/Best Practice. Regular engagement and close coordination with the INSARAG Working Groups is imperative to the achievement of the objective of a comprehensive reviewed Guidelines.  The outcome of this engagement will be captured in the chairman’s summary and be shared with the INSARAG Network.

Guidelines Review WG update