Self
Care of the RAD Rapid Deployment Team
Written 2009.
Last Updated April, 2014.
‘RAD’ is a
short term for a series of documents on Rapid Assessing of Local Wellness Psycho-Social
Resources & Resilience Following Disasters
Care of the
RAD team is a central aspect of RAD experiential learning. It is understood
that RAD Team members may be exposed to:
o
lack of security
o
danger
o
an accumulation of potentially stressing traumatic scenes and
stories
o
difficult living and working conditions
o
bureaucratic challenges
Given the
foregoing, taking steps to ensure team safety is a paramount consideration
It is
recognized that minimum periods be reserved on a daily basis for rest and short
regular recuperation periods for team-support
Before
sending the RAD team to an emergency context, information is obtained from the
Organisation auspicing the Rapid Deployment Team relating to the team’s safety:
i)
Security of the urban and rural areas
ii)
Areas of military operations or other threatening situations
iii)
Protocols at Military Checkpoints and in using security escorts
iv)
Security requirements and assets (regulations, clearances,
safety jackets, helmets, etc.)
v)
State of roads, bridges, airports, availability of transport,
communications, etc.
vi)
Protocols re video and audio recording, photographing etc.
vii)
Securing gathered material and notes against appropriation and
theft
viii)
Access to the territory (road convoys, river and sea shipping,
airlifts and airdrops, “humanitarian corridors”, “windows of peace”, etc.
ix)
Prevalence of endemic diseases, vectors, vaccines needed, etc.
x)
Availability of medical treatment and evacuation
plans/regulations
xi)
Presence of unexploded landmines, bombs, and artillery shells
xii)
Communication network(s)
xiii)
Procedures for international aid agreements
xiv)
Rights and authorizations for movements of people and goods
(international flights, transit, landing)
xv)
Visa, customs regulations, clearance, number of photos needed,
etc.
2) At the end of RAD
team meetings in the field, team members review together their experience,
including:
i.
Exploring processes that are working
ii.
Unresolved issues and what can be done
about them
iii.
How issues are being resolved
iv.
Learnings about what to do differently next time
v.
Group mood changes throughout time in
the field
vi.
What is working in orienting to local
changing context
vii.
Sharing vital information and concerns
with the whole team
viii.
The leader role
ix.
The nature and quality of Team
interaction
x.
Issues with intercultural Interfacing
and how to resolve them
xi.
Healing Values in Action
xii.
How the Team is engaging in self-care
xiii.
Adherences to Ethics, Norms and Values
xiv.
Maintaining & Evolving the RAD
Teams’ Wellness, Psycho-Social
Resources & Resilience during the stay in the field
BACKGROUND LINKS:
Other RAD Links:
·
Rapid
Assessing of Local Wellness, Psycho-Social Resources & Resilience Following
Disasters (RAD)
·
Recognising and
Evolving Local-lateral Links Between Various Support Processes
·
Regaining
Balance through Mutual-Help - A Story from Life
·
Action
Researching RAD in the Field
·
Outline Of A
RAD Project Proposal
·
RAD Experiential
Learning Gatherings
·
Possible
Terms of Reference for RAD Assessment of Local Psychosocial
Resources and Wellness
·
Responsibility
for Distributing RAD Reports
On LACEWEB: