FACT: Disasters are occurring more frequently.
We have already identified that the incidences of Terrorism, Earthquakes, Floods, Plane Crashes, Hurricanes, Epidemics, Bushfires and Acts of Crime are happening more often, and are having an ever more dramatic impact on the world in terms of both their human and economic cost.
With existing resources already stretched, how best can we mobilise emergency response teams to effectively operate during these disasters?
One way is to boost the amount, and the quality of training available and, in doing so, increase the number of trained emergency response personnel.
A quarter of a million lives were lost in the Asian Tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti. When experts analysed these events, the most obvious shortcoming was not the response from the rest of the world to provide food, clothing and money to the survivors. It was the untimely response of trained disaster professionals to physically be there to limit casualties and re-establish basic infrastructure.
The fact is we need more trained personnel on the ground, ready to react within 24 hours or less to a disaster, anywhere in the world.
Our dedicated Queensland headquarters will be built on approximately 40,000 acres, and will incorporate many specifically designed and constructed features. Up to 15,000 students from all over the world will study courses here, that will comprise a mix of education (classroom and distance), training (on-site using simulators and other facilities) and response (including service with the IPS Group Disaster Response Task Force in actual disaster conditions).
Courses will be in line with the PUA12 – Public Safety Training Package and will exceed these in some cases.
In the vocational education and training sector, national qualifications include Certificates I-IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma. There is nothing in existence, or in planning, anywhere in the World which will offer such a comprehensive range of services on one site, with purpose-built amenities and in ideal climatic conditions.
This is no accident. We have designed it this way, because the on-site training and education facilities will make the Program virtually self-contained, allowing unlimited training time for all courses offered, including parachuting, diving, fire fighting, oil and chemical spills, to name just a few.
A key part of the program will be helping poorer developing countries to cope better with future rapid onset disasters, by training and equipping them with their own Urban Search and Rescue Teams, and by providing them with all the resources and training needed to create their own effective disaster response infrastructure.
Our training facility will feature the very best equipment, the latest techniques and technology, and a staff of instructors assembled from the world’s emergency and armed services. Only the very best in their fields will be invited to join.
We will set standards against which the rest of the world must measure itself.