It relies heavily on major disasters to drive its fund-raising, but until recently, there have not been any large emergencies that captured public attention since Hurricane Katrina.
Coordination of mental health and psychosocial support is difficult in large emergencies involving numerous agencies.
While this is increasingly recognised, many actors identified the need for a coherent, systematic approach that can be applied in large emergencies.
R13: In large emergencies that require rapid scaling up of IT systems, Regional Directors and IT managers must ensure that highly experienced senior staff from the RO and HQ are deployed in the first eight weeks.
Due to scarcity of safe water during large emergencies, high incidences of fever, diarrhoeal illnesses and skin infections are common place, at least in low income countries [ 26]. Isolation from medical care further increases rates of morbidity and mortality.
There is an opportunity to develop this as a career path for competent managers, as those trained and experienced in dealing with complex information management needs in large emergencies will be in high demand even in normal times in all countries.
