Coordination of International Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Teams in the 2015 Nepal Earthquake: “Disaster Literacy” for International USAR

Abstract

This paper reports and examines the coordination activity of international urban search and rescue (USAR) teams, which were deployed to the Nepal earthquake in April 2015. The revised INSARAG Guidelines, which include new methodologies such as sectorisation and marking, was endorsed just before the earthquake in Nepal, and this paper will look at how these methodologies were applied in response to the Nepal earthquake based on the authors' experience in the field. Through the discussion, this paper considers “Disaster Literacy” that international USAR experts should have.