Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.02.2010, Side 9

The earthquake in Haiti occurred at 16:53 local time on January 12, 2010. It had the cata-
strophic magnitude of 7.0. The International Red Cross estimate that about three million
people are affected by the quake; Haitian officials anticipate that the disaster will eventually
claim between 100.000 and 200.000 lives.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01 — 2010
9
Following the massive earthquake
in Haiti on January 12, the Icelandic
Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR) team
was the first international team to ar-
rive at the scene. The team landed in
the country’s capital Port-au-Prince
just 24 hours after the earthquake hit.
Iceland’s fast response was noted all
over the world.
“What usually delays the deploy-
ment of rescue teams is bureaucracy,
i.e. the time it takes the government to
decide to send aid,” says ICE-SAR PR-
officer Ólöf Snæhólm Baldursdóttir.
“The short chain of command in Ice-
land and the effective work of public
officials made the fast response pos-
sible.”
Just after the news of the earth-
quake Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Össur Skarphéðinsson, was up all
night with his staff to smooth things
along. While awaiting response from
officials, the rescue team was at an
alert status and spent the night pre-
paring for the mission at the ICE-SAR
headquarters. Icelandair had a plane
ready to transport the team and the
team’s equipment is ready at Keflavík
airport at all times.
Funds for the transportation costs
were secured from the government
very early on. Pure costs were lower
than could be expected, as members
of the rescue team all work on a vol-
unteer basis, and ICE-SAR teams
buy and own all their equipment. “It
has taken years of meticulous plan-
ning and training to organise this and
countless hours of fundraising for the
equipment,” says Ólöf.
The team sent to Haiti consisted
of 35 people. It operates as an inter-
national special unit within ICE-SAR
and is specialised in rescue missions
in ruins. It is also a registered team
under the UN umbrella.
TAKING CHARGE ANd RESCUING
LIvES
The Icelandic team took control of the
international search and rescue (SAR)
camp upon arrival in Haiti. They set
up a base camp and were involved in
the coordination of activities for all
the international SAR teams. “Taking
charge of the camp was a logical thing
to do after being the first to arrive,”
Ólöf explains.
During their first rescue mission
in Port-au-Prince the ICE-SAR team
rescued three women from the ruins
of a four-story building. They were
also the first international aid to arrive
in the town of Léogane, which is situ-
ated near the earthquakes epicentre.
There they found no survivors in the
rubble, but the team provided medical
assistance to a large number of injured
people in the city. All things consid-
ered, the members of the Icelandic
team remained in good condition
throughout their stay.
“There are a lot of difficulties fac-
ing rescue teams that arrive in a di-
saster area. The overall situation, the
horrible consequences of the earth-
quake on top of physically and men-
tally challenging work from sunrise to
sunset accompanied by only 4–6 hour
sleep every night is the most difficult
thing.”
Although news coverage from
Haiti portrayed the safety situation in
the country as extremely critical after
the earthquake, the ICE-SAR team
reported that they were received with
nothing but gratitude and warmth by
the local population. “The team has an
extensive safety plan, and they usually
worked with armed guards from the
UN Peace Corps,” says Ólöf.
The ICE-SAR team left Haiti on
January 20th, about a week after their
arrival. It is a rule of thumb that ur-
ban SAR teams cease operations 48
hours after the last rescue of a survi-
vor. The Icelandic camp with part of
their equipment was left behind since
it was used as a nerve centre for all in-
ternational search and rescue teams.
“There was not much more for the
ICE-SAR team to do and we will not
send more people to Haiti. Now other
organisations will deliver aid to those
who survived.”
Feature | Icelandic Rescue Teams
LOUISE PETERSSON
FROM ICE_SAR
Search and
Rescue in Haiti
Icelandic rescuers first to arrive after
earthquake hits
The History of ICE-SAR
The rescue teams of Iceland all coexist under the umbrella
organisation ICE-SAR (Icelandic name: Landsbjörg), the Icelandic
Association of Search and Rescue. The mission: to save lives and
valuables and to prevent accidents.
ICE-SAR is part of a long tradition the origins of which date
back to 1918, when the first rescue team was established in the
Westmann Islands. It was started mainly because of frequent ship
losses and deaths of fishermen. Today, all fishermen must participate
in extensive sea survival training by law. Before they go out to sea
for the first time, they attend the basic sea survival course at the
Maritime Safety and Survival Training Centre, founded by ICE-SAR
in 1985. Students learn how to use, among other things, life rafts,
lifejackets, survival suits and flares. This has resulted in record lows
of serious accidents at sea in recent years. For example, back in 1985
Iceland was losing twenty people at sea every year: today it’s down
to two or three persons yearly. Last year was the first recorded one
that absolutely no one died at sea.
Today there are around 3.000 active rescuers involved in the
different rescue teams across the country. They are on standby for
emergencies day and night all year round. In recent years there has
been an increased specialisation within the rescue teams. Every
team has members equipped for certain tasks: avalanche rescue,
rescue at sea, first aid groups, search groups, search dog groups,
urban search and rescue, diving groups, etc., etc.
More on ICE-SAR: www.landsbjorg.is
Be prepared
Be prepared. Read information
about the area you are visiting,
and Iceland in general, so you
know what to expect. Believe what
you read! Too many travellers
get into trouble because they fail
to acknowledge how harsh the
environment can be. Have a travel
plan and let someone in on it. Info
on safe travel in Iceland can be
found on www.safetravel.is.
Be equipped
Bring all the necessary equipment,
such as a compass, GPS navigator,
map, some means of communication
(satellite phone/spot emergency
button) and know how to use
it. Pack clothes for all weather
conditions and remember that it can
snow in Iceland in the summertime.
Bring plenty of food, including an
emergency stash.
Be smart
Remember that the roads in the
highlands are only made for 4x4
jeeps. If you get into trouble while
driving, stay in the car and call 112
for assistance.
Keep in mind…
…that river crossings keep changing
in Iceland. On warm summer days
the flow increases as the day
progresses. Also, heavy rain often
causes rivers to swell which can
make them impossible to cross
even with large and well equipped
vehicles. Underestimating water
volume in rivers has resulted in
deaths.
Better to be safe than
sorry
As previously stated, numerous
travellers on this island tend
not to recognise how harsh the
environment is. For all travellers
who realise the dangers inherent in
Icelandic nature and wish to come
out alive, ICE-SAR has a travellers
reporting service. People who plan
to wander in the highlands and
wilderness can register at the ICE-
SAR office in Reykjavík. Basically, if
you don’t report back at a given time
when you’ve finished your trip an
investigation will start and a search
will be launched.
Better to be safe than sorry, right?
A new question has arisen in
Iceland. It goes something
like this: What does it mean
to be Icelandic? Or better:
What are Icelanders made of? What is
their true nature? Indeed a very basic,
stupid question that gives way to many
answers, spun up of homemade topics
and creative generalisations about
nations.
Now, I said NEW question and I
said ARISEN. The question is of course
not new and it has resurfaced rather
than arisen after the financial collapse.
Every nation about to become a
nation or wanting to be one, or having
recently become one, ponders this
question relentlessly. Nations without
states define themselves over and over
in the battle for independence, and
so did Iceland. The twentieth century
saw the publication of a fundamental
book in Icelandic thought, a book
revolving around questions of this sort:
Icelandic Culture by Sigurður Norðdal,
Volume I. There were supposed to be
more volumes but they were never
published, nor written. Why? For many
reasons, but as time went by and 1944
faded into the past, the question will
have seemed less and less relevant.
Author Guðbergur Bergsson gave
some brilliant suggestions on more
negative and ironic notes before the
matter was finally put to sleep and
people turned to pondering on the
wonders of the rich in recent years.
The thing became self-evident
(and two folded): Icelanders were a
fierce nation with innovative Viking
spirit, conquering the business world
with their natural skills for battle, a
mentality moulded by harsh nature
over the centuries. And so on. More
or less the empty phrases president
Ólafur Ragnar and his merry Vikings
were using in their shameless exploit
of Icelanders’ national pride. Those
jingles had no relation to the topics
Icelanders most commonly used about
themselves in previous times, that they
were modest (bragging was a mortal
sin), hard working, honest and content,
serious and prone to literature and
tradition. They had become Viking
superheroes.
Now, for those who did not believe
that, the question was put to sleep by
its complete opposite: What a load of
utter crap, non-believers would think,
what stupid arrogance, how completely
boring and superficial, what misuse
of history by the few and rich for
the many and stupid. Icelanders as
a nation are really just a bunch of
arrogant hick bastards.
Either way, the matter is dead. End
of subject. No need to think about it
anymore.
Now you see it rising. What does
it mean to be Icelandic? The complex
of tiny nations comes out in force
with that question again, scrutinizing
the international media to see how
others see it—and not always liking
it. Criminals and terrorists, thieves,
reckless, risk-taking and irresponsible?
Neigh! We are not like that! Nobody
wants to see themselves like that,
obviously. Try something else on for
size. How about romantic elf-believers,
can that go? Oppressed minority?
Could we be modest and kind?
(Ehrm... well). Readers? Searchers?
Naive, cunning? Easily deceived
or passionate? Foxes or bears,
wolves or chicken? Revolutionaries?
Home-educated economists or
environmentally aware ecologists?
Mental slaves or lone rangers? Angry
crowd or intellectual elite? The
possibilities are endless. The matter is
open for debate.
Opinion | Hermann Stefánsson
To Be
Icelandic,
That Is A
Question
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