Strong Angel New Tasks from DoDD 3000.05

1. Strong Angel New Tasks from DoDD 3000.05 Special Operations Medical Conference 30 November 2006 Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP Director, Strong Angel Demonstrations and Chairman, Department of Medicine Naval Hospital Bremerton, Seattle, WA

2. As we all know… We’re enlarging our understanding of what that means. Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction ( SSTR ) Win the Fight First

3. We went where the UN suggested we learn…

4. We learned the OTHER communications requirements • Talking with NGOs • Talking with each other • Talking with the US military • Talking with the Host Nation • Talking with UN relief agencies • Talking with expatriates in exile • Talking with the local population • Talking with subject-matter experts • Talking with international military partners • Talking with Contractors while developing reconstruction plans • Talking with the US government agencies supporting relief efforts

5. Bring superb and open comms… …use them daily across all boundaries… …teach them to everyone… …and leave them behind.

6. We need to talk with a LOT of people. So protect the data. Not the network.Let partners share our assets.( more on Hushmail later… )

7. Banda Aceh

8. Unlikely colleagues responded with us in the field… And did good work.

9. Katrina And lessons we recognized… Comms x 6

10. Shared Situational Awareness is critical • Remote bridges were out • Field meetings were missed • Coordination failed • Meth-based assaults went unreported • Solutions were tried, and some succeeded • More options are required

11. Position Tracking and GPS-based Navigation • New Orleans had been evacuated. No streetlights at night, and no one to ask for directions. • A USB GPS, in combination with laptop software, worked well for navigation while driving. • Distributed, encrypted, peer-to-peer software was used for sharing position data through a Verizon Aircard with others in the field with us, as well as with headquarters.

12. Other topics we found important in Katrina… • Mobile Worker coordination (FRS-GMRS radios) • Contact information was as valuable as gasoline • The “Persistent Identity” problem • Spontaneous Virtual Teaming • Lighting and Shelter • And everyone was paying attention…

13. And soon new mandates appeared… 3000.05 and SSTR

14. Civil-military integration must now become routine… And we were asked to try something…

15. How could a community, anywhere, respond well in 2007? Anticipating complexity Exploring Responses Cultivating Resilience

16. Scenario • An urban community, somewhere in the world, is under pressure • Comms, lift, and power are compromised • Some are ill, and many more are at risk • No physical help from the outside • Goals • Create an extreme response laboratory to drive innovation • Avoid a domestic focus. Propose global solutions • Open source, open standard, and free are preferred • Produce tools deployable by the end of 2006

17. Designed as a demonstration, not an exercise. • Exercise: “Training to Requirements” • Demonstration: “Striving toward Objectives” • more points if your stuff works with their stuff • Laboratory for innovation • All efforts toward optimizing a single goal: • Effective response to a population in need • Non-competitive • Non-hierarchical (anarchy, initially…) • Self-organizing, to a point • Cooperative collaboration is mandated

18. Strong Angel III Tasks… • Build key local relationships ( how does the neighborhood work? ) • Create an urgent work environment • Establish effective multi-modal cross-agency communications • Provide sustainable and independent power to the SA-III site • Synchronize information flows across diverse tools • Track key disaster response metrics • Ensure rapid epidemiological assessment, analysis, and reporting. • Perform comprehensive remote risk analysis. • Integrate volunteers into the event effectively. • Develop Harvard Kennedy School crisis leadership metrics

19. Designed carefully to reproduce reality… • 800 participants • 270 organizations • 9 nations, 4 militaries • 11 international NGOs • One abandoned building • empty, dark, cold, unsafe • $180,000 total funding • ONE full-time staff for 90 days • All volunteer coordination

20. Volunteers John Crowley Harvard Robert Kirkpatrick Groove and MHS And Suzanne Mikawa – Strong Angel Dr. Nigel Snoad UN and MHS

22. Unusual staff member…an Ethics Advisor, helping the focus Minimizing Agendas • Political • Personal • Academic • Religious • Corporate • Social John Francis, PhD UN Goodwill Ambassador on the Environment Recommended.

23. How did it go?

24. Civil-Military relationships expanded Stimulus for multiple meetings… Afghan NGO and Joint Forces Command, planning

25. Power options proved flexible and robust

26. Overlooked assets… GSM Smartphone • Voice • SMS Text • Speakerphone • International utility • 802.11 WiFi • Web • Email • Powerpoint, Excel, Word… • Camera • Voice recorder • VOIP (Skype) • IR-Bluetooth data exchange • GPS • Library (2 Gig card) • Maps • Power from solar, crank, USB

27. GATR Inflatable Vsat • Compact • 65 pounds • Highly reliable T1-speed Internet access NGO discovery Now in use in Afghanistan

28. Amateur (HAM) radio Voice SMS Email GPS Power from automobile outlets Significant success. • Up in eight minutes • Constant comms We’re advocating more.

30. So, interesting possibilities… • Power (Skybuilt) • Lighting (Carmanah) • Sahana (Sri Lanka, Beirut) • Contacts (Blueforce DD) • Second Life (Strong Angel Island) • PFIF and SSE standards (Yahoo and Microsoft) • Secure email (Hushmail) • All-Hazards Analysis (General Atomics) • Social Fragility Indicators (Susan Cutter and UNC) • USB drives (Toozl)

31. ToozlThe One Ounce Laptop 22 applications All free, open source, and open standards Browser Mail Office Suite Web design Skype Graphics Media player Anti-virus More… • Runs off a USB drive • Never touches the registry • Never touches the hard drive • No trace of its use • Can run using Linux on the USB • Strong encryption • Free

34. Other areas of interest… • Translation (GALE) • Codespear (FDNY) • Disaster Vehicles (GM) • FM Comms (SPOT Watch) • Community Journalism (Internews) • Collaborative, peer-to-peer software (Groove)

35. Distributed Resilience example • International Medical Corps researcher Dr. Lynn Lawry • epidemiologist and Harvard faculty, more than 20 deployments • Darfur Women’s Health Survey • Toughbook CF-29 • Checkpoint challenge • Laptop destroyed • Groove space • on three continents • Still on my laptop

36. Quick strategic thoughts…

37. For 3000.05 there is much to learn

38. Information flow is almost as vital as water

39. International expertise can be invaluable

40. Bring, share, and expand the network

41. Just to re-state the obvious to this crowd… Comms, Lift, and Power fail consistently in the field and The disconnected user is the norm

42. International Field Resources • UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) • UN Joint Logistics Center (UNJLC) • International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) • International Organization for Migration (IOM) • International Medical Corps (IMC) • European Masters in Disaster Medicine – Responders (EMDM-R) • World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM)

43. “We need to figure out how to disseminate unclassified data with the same priority we do classified data – perhaps more…given our need to communicate with non-traditional actors.” GEN Lance Smith, Commander, US Joint Forces Command, May 2006

44. Simple recommendation… For information flow, adopt the effective tools already in use within the humanitarian community.

45. Ask me about anything. Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP 360 - 621 - 3592 RasmussenE@gmail.com www.strongangel3.org