Satellite Communications an Essential Tool for Emergency Responders

Humanitarian relief is one of the most uncertain, unpredictable, and difficult to manage activities in the world, and it is not getting easier.

Natural disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies are more frequent and – lately – more severe.

Return on investment: an operational multiplier
While humanitarian managers do not measure investments in terms of financial return, they always require performance and effectiveness in the field. Increasingly, relief organizations recognize that satellite communications are not an optional enhancement, but a reliable and affordable enabling capability that makes the difference between rapid operational effectiveness and “too little, too late.”

Reliable communications should be seen as an “operational multiplier.” If deployed teams do not know where to go, what assistance is needed, or what supplies to order, they cannot do their job – they are not effective. Every hour of delay and every missed communication can result in lost opportunities to help the afflicted population.

When the first assessment team arrives at a disaster scene, they begin immediately to plan and communicate how to meet urgent requirements. They send for specialized personnel to handle the complex planning of food, water, shelter, logistics, medical care, and security. They make sure that the right supplies are on the way. And of pivotal importance, they must coordinate their actions with United Nations and government agencies, other relief organizations, and their own regional and national headquarters. If they cannot coordinate their actions, they may actually worsen, rather than improve the situation. In many cases, relief teams could put themselves at risk, in the absence of current security information.

In the Aceh region of Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami, many relief teams and managers had to drive many miles from coastal villages for frequent meetings with UN and government authorities, to hold organizational meetings, and to check email. With mobile satellite communications and Internet access, these teams could save countless travel hours and use the time for productive on-scene assistance.

A recent Java Lava exercise conducted by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in West Java, Indonesia, demonstrated the tremendous benefit of having mobile satellite communications that enabled around-the-clock online communications. “Having the luxury of Internet access” from the moment of arrival is a ‘huge advantage’ in delivering relief and helping the communities in distress,” noted Chris Jensen, an ADRA coordinator from Australia.

It is not difficult to place a value on the time and resources spent inefficiently. A shipment worth $10,000 that is sitting in a warehouse near an airport is wasted if a logistics coordinator is unable to locate it, dispatch the shipment to the right field team, and inform that team that it is on the way.

Another example is a team meeting of relief workers operating in a dispersed rural zone. If each of 10 personnel travels by vehicle two hours to the meeting location, each way, the total time expended in travel (often prone to delays or risk) is 40 hours. Using a conservative compensation rate of $25 per hour, the cost of the meeting is $1000, not counting fuel, the cost of drivers, and – significantly – the opportunity cost of the 40 hours of travel.

By using resource-efficient and easyto- use mobile satellite systems, such as Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), e-mail exchanges, document transfers, instant messaging, or video conferencing can almost always accomplish the same objectives, at far less cost. In exercise Java Lava, ADRA teams utilized a Hughes 9201 BGAN provided by Telenor Satellite Services.

These examples demonstrate that the cost of being connected is very low, compared to the cost, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities that poor communications cause. The cost of BGAN satellite terminals range from $1,500 to $3,900 and can be used by large teams (as in Java Lava) or individuals. Service providers, such as Telenor Satellite Services, offer monthly usage plans to accommodate a variety of organizational needs, starting for as little as $39.00 for BGAN service. The cost of usage can be managed in a variety of ways. Using the Standard IP connection, e-mails can be sent and received for a few cents each, and text-based Web sites can be accessed at very low cost, enabling relief teams to get status reports, security notifications, and other mission-critical information.

Connectivity from Day One
Today’s notebook-sized mobile satellite communications terminals permit everyone to experience the advantage of “Day One” connectivity including the Internet, remote access to office WANs and LANs and telephony. Satellite communications provide the critical link necessary to manage operations in a hectic and unpredictable relief environment. Everything that must be managed – from logistics coordination, transportation, security and worker safety to periodic reporting, downloading digital maps and even submitting grant proposals to potential donors – depends on reliable satellite communication in the field.

Staying in touch – essential in crises
While mission effectiveness is important, the welfare of deployed teams is essential in difficult and high-risk crisis zones. Every relief manager and worker knows how vital it is to know about security warnings, bridges out, reports of disease and injury, the location of arriving and departing teams, and other critical information. As we know from television reports from Darfur, Afghanistan, and other challenging regions, the lives of both victims and responders are too often on the line.

These teams benefit tremendously from the ability to stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues. Even brief e-mails at the end of the day, assuring family members that they are well, or hearing from loved ones, is an enormous boost to morale. Sometimes weeks can go by without word from deployed responders and that is not good for the workers’ morale or for the loved ones back home. Satellite communications enable phone calls and messages on a more regular basis. One humanitarian worker recently commented to his parents about the satellite communications available for use at his remote location in the Middle East; “I really appreciate having the ability to call home and talk with my family to catch up on all the news from home and to let them know I’m all right.” This worker was using an Iridium satellite phone that retails for around $1300 with airtime service at about one dollar a minute.

Steve Glassey, the CEO of EMANZ, who participated in the Java Lava exercise, commented; “Having used everything from morse code to satellite, the latest satellite technology, such as BGAN revolutionizes disaster and emergency response with the power to immediately coordinate information from anywhere in the world.”

Telenor Satellite Services provided the B GAN and Iridium equipment and service for exercise Java Lava and support numerous humanitarian teams worldwide. Satellite service providers, such as Telenor, offer a virtual “one-stop-shop” for mobile satellite communications including equipment, global service, training, and around-the-clock support.

For more information on satellite equipment and services contact Telenor Satellite Services at (301) 838-7700 or at [email protected].