The MCDA Reference Manual represents a living document to be
updated annually or as needed to provide those in planning and
operations, both within and without military and civil
defence/protection
circles, a baseline from which to use military and civil defence
assets in humanitarian and disaster relief operations.
The manual has a detailed table of contents which provides a ready
reference to the contents of each chapter and annex. Annexes
and appendices can be extracted as needed from the manual. Most
annexes are self-contained facilitating stand alone use by MCDA
personnel in the field.
Chapter 1, Introduction to Disasters and Disaster Management,
lays the foundations for some of the basic principles and
terminology used within the disaster management community. Annex
A provides a ready reference list of 14 hazards.
Chapter 2, The United Nations Response to Disasters,
describes
in summary how the United Nations mobilizes at the interagency
level and provides support to Affected Nations. Annex B provides
a summary of many of the United Nations agencies or organizations
and the mandates by which they operate.
Chapter 3, The Dynamics of National Disaster Relief and General
Preparedness Measures, is organized in three sections
addressing
basic governing principles of cooperation and coordination, general
principles of emergency response, and general questions regarding
disaster reduction and mitigation. This chapter was written for
the political and executive level decision makers. Annex D,
provides
an extract of the OSLO General Guidelines to include a decision
matrix, a status of forces template, and model letters of exchange.
Chapter 4, Localizing Disaster Relief, is organized in
three sections. The first section provides foundation principles
in planning and mobilizing the use of MCDA in humanitarian and
disaster relief scenarios. Section II applies the principles
described in Section I to practical usage in forming mission
statements,
objectives and tasks, as well as writing a cooperative plan of
action. Section II also describes how deliberate and crisis action
planning interplay in the crisis and non-crisis environments.
Section III introduces the multinational service packages
methodology.
Annex D provides additional planning tools, templates and
checklists.
Chapter 5, MCDA Applications in Disaster Relief, address
three major areas where MCDA could be effectively employed in
humanitarian and disaster relief operations: command structure,
functions, and capabilities. (Annex F, Unit Level
Deployment/Redeployment
Preparations,) a supportive annex has been written detailing
unit responsibilities and considerations in deploying MCDA. Unit
checklists addressing each mode of transportation (land, air,
and sea) are included with detail descriptions on personnel and
cargo preparation.
Chapter 6, MCDA and Environmental Disaster Support, provides
detailed summary information on how military and civil defence
assets can be used to combat environmental disasters. Annex H
provides a series of checklists addressing nuclear, biological
and chemical accidents.
Additional annexes, a comprehensive glossary and listing of
abbreviations
have also been included as resource material.