Strong Angel

New Tasks from DoDD 3000.05

Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACPDirector, Strong Angel Demonstrationsand Chairman, Department of MedicineNaval Hospital Bremerton, Seattle, WA

Special Operations Medical Conference30 November 2006

As we all know…

Win the Fight First

We’re enlarging our understanding of what that means.

Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction

( SSTR )

We went where the UN suggested we learn…

We learned the OTHER communications requirements

Talking with NGOs

Talking with each other

Talking with the US military

Talking with the Host Nation

Talking with UN relief agencies

Talking with expatriates in exile

Talking with the local population

Talking with subject-matter experts

Talking with international military partners

Talking with Contractors while developing reconstruction plans

Talking with the US government agencies supporting relief efforts

Bring superb and open comms…

…teach them to everyone…

…and leave them behind.

…use them daily across all boundaries…

We need to talk with a LOT of people.

So protect the data. Not the network.

Let partners share our assets.

( more on Hushmail later… )

Banda Aceh

Unlikely

colleagues

responded

with us

in the field…

And did good work.

KatrinaAnd lessons we recognized…

Comms x 6

Shared Situational Awareness is critical• Remote bridges were out

• Field meetings were missed

• Coordination failed

• Meth-based assaults went unreported

• Solutions were tried, and some succeeded

• More options are required

Position Tracking and GPS-based Navigation

• New Orleans had been evacuated. No streetlights at night, and no one to ask for directions.

• A USB GPS, in combination with laptop software, worked well for navigation while driving.

• Distributed, encrypted, peer-to-peer software was used for sharing position data through a Verizon Aircard with others in the field with us, as well as with headquarters.

● Mobile Worker coordination (FRS-GMRS radios)

● Contact information was as valuable as gasoline

● The “Persistent Identity” problem

● Spontaneous Virtual Teaming

● Lighting and Shelter

● And everyone was paying attention…

Other topics we found important in Katrina…

And soon new mandates appeared…

3000.05 and SSTR

Civil-military integration must now become routine…

And we were asked to try something…

Anticipating complexity

Exploring Responses

Cultivating Resilience

How could a community, anywhere, respond well in 2007?

Scenario● An urban community, somewhere in the world, is under pressure● Comms, lift, and power are compromised● Some are ill, and many more are at risk● No physical help from the outside

Goals● Create an extreme response laboratory to drive innovation● Avoid a domestic focus. Propose global solutions● Open source, open standard, and free are preferred● Produce tools deployable by the end of 2006

● Designed as a demonstration, not an exercise.

Exercise: “Training to Requirements”

Demonstration: “Striving toward Objectives”

● more points if your stuff works with their stuff

Laboratory for innovation

● All efforts toward optimizing a single goal:

Effective response to a population in need● Non-competitive

● Non-hierarchical (anarchy, initially…)

● Self-organizing, to a point

●Cooperative collaboration is mandated

Strong Angel III Tasks…

● Build key local relationships ( how does the neighborhood work? )

● Create an urgent work environment

● Establish effective multi-modal cross-agency communications

● Provide sustainable and independent power to the SA-III site

● Synchronize information flows across diverse tools

● Track key disaster response metrics

● Ensure rapid epidemiological assessment, analysis, and reporting.

● Perform comprehensive remote risk analysis.

● Integrate volunteers into the event effectively.

● Develop Harvard Kennedy School crisis leadership metrics

Designed carefully to reproduce reality…

● 800 participants

● 270 organizations

● 9 nations, 4 militaries

● 11 international NGOs

● One abandoned building

empty, dark, cold, unsafe

● $180,000 total funding

● ONE full-time staff for 90 days

● All volunteer coordination

Volunteers

And Suzanne Mikawa – Strong Angel

John CrowleyHarvard

Robert KirkpatrickGroove and MHS

Dr. Nigel SnoadUN and MHS

John Francis, PhD

UN Goodwill Ambassador on the Environment

Minimizing Agendas

• Political

• Personal

• Academic

• Religious

• Corporate

• Social

Unusual staff member…an Ethics Advisor, helping the focus

Recommended.

How did it go?

Civil-Military relationships expanded

Afghan NGO and Joint Forces Command, planning

Stimulus for multiple meetings…

Power options provedflexible and robust

GSM Smartphone• Voice• SMS Text• Speakerphone• International utility• 802.11 WiFi• Web• Email• Powerpoint, Excel, Word…• Camera• Voice recorder• VOIP (Skype)• IR-Bluetooth data exchange• GPS• Library (2 Gig card)• Maps• Power from solar, crank, USB

Overlooked assets…

GATR Inflatable Vsat

• Compact

• 65 pounds

• Highly reliable

T1-speed Internet access

NGO discovery

Now in use in Afghanistan

Amateur (HAM) radio

VoiceSMSEmailGPSPower from automobile outlets

Significant success.• Up in eight minutes• Constant comms

We’re advocating more.

So, interesting possibilities…

● Power (Skybuilt)

● Lighting (Carmanah)

● Sahana (Sri Lanka, Beirut)

● Contacts (Blueforce DD)

● Second Life (Strong Angel Island)

● PFIF and SSE standards (Yahoo and Microsoft)

● Secure email (Hushmail)

● All-Hazards Analysis (General Atomics)

● Social Fragility Indicators (Susan Cutter and UNC)

● USB drives (Toozl)

Toozl

The One Ounce

Laptop22 applicationsAll free, open source, and open standardsBrowserMailOffice SuiteWeb designSkypeGraphicsMedia playerAnti-virusMore…

• Runs off a USB drive• Never touches the registry• Never touches the hard drive• No trace of its use• Can run using Linux on the USB• Strong encryption• Free

Other areas of interest…

● Translation (GALE)

● Codespear (FDNY)

● Disaster Vehicles (GM)

● FM Comms (SPOT Watch)

● Community Journalism (Internews)

● Collaborative, peer-to-peer software (Groove)

Distributed Resilience example

● International Medical Corps researcher Dr. Lynn Lawry

epidemiologist and Harvard faculty, more than 20 deployments

Darfur Women’s Health Survey

● Toughbook CF-29

● Checkpoint challenge

● Laptop destroyed

● Groove space

on three continents

● Still on my laptop

Quick strategic thoughts…

For 3000.05

there is much to learn

Information flow is almost as vital as water

International expertise can be invaluable

Bring, share, and expand the network

Just to re-state the obvious to this crowd…

Comms, Lift, and Power

fail consistently in the field

and

The disconnected user is the norm

International Field Resources

● UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA)

● UN Joint Logistics Center (UNJLC)

● International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG)

● International Organization for Migration (IOM)

● International Medical Corps (IMC)

● European Masters in Disaster Medicine – Responders (EMDM-R)

● World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM)

“We need to figure out how to disseminate unclassified data with the same priority we do classified data – perhaps more…given our need to communicate with non-traditional actors.”

GEN Lance Smith, Commander, US Joint Forces Command, May 2006

Simple recommendation…

For information flow,

adopt the effective tools

already in use within the

humanitarian community.

Ask me about anything.

Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP

360 - 621 - 3592

RasmussenE@gmail.com

www.strongangel3.org