Doing it Quick and Right: Emergency Response Unit

In the morning of February 4, 2008, the people of Orange County, Florida was shocked by the news that a 70-year-old woman was held hostage at gunpoint in her house by her own daughter. For almost three hours, the violent daughter kept her mother inside the house that made the police seek the help of their SWAT team. At first, they thought that they had convinced the woman to release her mother but as the hostage ran out, she pointed a gun at her and the officers leaving the team with no choice but to take defensive action. The hostage was saved successfully.

This is just one of the many SWAT success stories. SWAT is one of several emergency response units that promise to rescue those in need and save lives in the event of a violent threat, a war outbreak or a catastrophe. Almost every international organization has an emergency response unit, which will take action once a tragic moment arrives. Here are some of them.

SWAT

The SWAT or Special Weapons and Tactics team is a specialized unit in police departments. The team is trained to perform dangerous operations including performing hostage rescue, serving high-risk arrest warrants, preventing terrorist attacks and engaging heavily-armed criminals. Equipped with assault rifles, shotguns, stun grenades and riot-control agents, they provide for operations that are beyond the capabilities of regular police officers.

IRC-ERT

The International Rescue Committee has its own emergency response team composed of 17 experts in key areas that are necessary to assess survival needs and mount effective approaches to emergencies. The team includes doctors, sanitation experts, coordinators and logisticians. The team also includes human rights specialists. IRC-ERT is always on standby for deployment within 72 hours.

Red Cross or Red Crescent ERU

The International Red Crescent or Red Cross Movement also has its own emergency response unit. Its ERU is rapidly deployed when there is a catastrophic event anywhere in the world. Composed of trained personnel with pre-packaged equipment such as food, shelter and other supplies, the unit responds to sudden large-scale emergencies in remote locations. Today, there are 28 ERUs across the globe, which are all sponsored by 12 national Red Crescent or Red Cross societies.

Aside from the three mentioned above, many government departments and private agencies build their own emergency response units according to their specialization. For example, many child welfare groups set up teams that will provide rescue to children who need immediate attention.