The 3rd Regional Collaboration Drill in ARCH Project (2018/12/5)
Topics: Strengthening the ASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management
Venue: Dusit Thani Manila (Manila, Philippines)

On Dec. 5 (Wed), 2018, Prof. Shinichi Egawa in Disaster Medical Science Division joined the 3rdRegional Collaboration Drill of ARCH project in Manila. This drill is a part of strengthening theASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH project). ARCH project started
in 2014 with support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and it was endowed by
ASEAN to fit “One ASEAN, One Response” concept. ARCH project is aiming at the standardizationof disaster medical response by encouraging the capacity building, collaboration and cooperation
between health clusters and other clusters and international standardization within this disasterprone region. This is the third and last drill of the first three years.
The primary aim of this drill is confirming the disaster medical response and collaboration within
ASEAN region. The secondary aim is the learning of disease surveillance tool, iSPEED, thecommand and control of emergency medical teams (EMTs), and communication system in disaster.
The Philippine government generously supported this drill. The drill is assuming that there wasa huge earthquake in Metro Manila, “The Big One” on Nov. 28. The drill itself was from Dec. 3 to 5.
On Day 1 (Dec. 3), international EMTs has arrived the Manila International Airport and every single
step of Immigration, Customs, Registry to Philippine International Health Aid Registry Center(PIHARC), Registry to National EMT Coordination Cell (NEMTCC), Submitting Authority Standard
Operational Protocol (SASOP), and confirmation of the equipped level of the EMT were simulatedwith help of actual Airport Staff of related authorities. There was a tabletop drill on safety of thedisaster affected area, level of damage, coordination of dispatch, learning practice of iSPEED
system and communication tools. The Day 2(Dec. 4) was the actual field exercise in the Philippine
Army Ground. Individual national team set up the tents assuming evacuation center or field
hospitals. EMTs were actively performing the care on simulated patients, communication andcoordination using iSPEED and tools. The Day 3 (Dec. 5) is assuming about one week after onset.
The table top exercise was health cluster meeting and National Disaster Risk Reduction andManagement Council (NDRRMC) meeting. Individual EMTs has to submit the exiting report toNEMTCC, PIHARC, Customs, Quarantine and Immigration. Every simulation was very realistic by
the support from Philippine government and airport staff. At the entrance and exit to the affected
country, EMTs has to resolve the various events, such as cash more than 10,000 USD, forgetting
the submission of exiting report, infected by febrile disease without precaution so that the EMTs
can realize the importance of prepraredness.
Total 12 EMTs from ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines (2 teams), Singapore、Thailand、Viet Nam and the Japanese Disaster Relief
Team joined this regional collaboration drill. There were also many taskforces from Japan, Thailand
and Philippine ARCH project teams. The taskforce was disaster health responders, NonGovernmental Organizations, and governmental organizations including JICA.
This regional collaboration drill enables the sharing of knowledge, tools, problems and gaps ofdisaster medicine. The output is not only the level up of international cooperation, but also directly
improve the coping capacity of individual country. This ARCH project initiative is a continuous effortof member states to sustain the capability of efficient response in this disaster prone region. IRIDeS
is aiming to contribute from the education and research perspectives.
Shinichi Egawa (Disaster Medical Science Division)(continues to the next page)

ARCH Project Logo

Realistic simulation of entrance. Immigration,Customs and registration to the nationalauthorities.

Field drill at the Philippine Army Ground

Patient care simulationiSPEED system to report and summarize themedical needs.

Health Cluster Meeting consisting ofDepartment of Health, WASH, Nutrition,Financial and other sectors.

Suitcase box containing the documents andstress injection for the exit.

Security Check, Custom, Quarantine andImmigration was performed by real airport
staffs.

Team appreciation: JDR from Japan.

ASEAN committment