S(P)EEDKITS

Rapid deployable kits as seeds for self-recovery

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross have sleeping emergency response units (ERU), which start acting immediately after disaster strikes. Each ERU has a specific function, e.g. medical care, sanitation, energy provision, or water supply. Current equipment solutions will be scanned and bottlenecks with respect to large volumes and/or heavy weight will be identified. Then, novel materials and concepts will be developed to drastically reduce the volume and weight for transportation. Examples of targeted innovations: lightweight but durable and thermally isolating tent materials, novel concepts for energy supply (biogas from sanitation), textile to line pit latrines, light weight textiles to store and distribute water and smart packaging of materials (matryoshka doll principle, i.e. smaller units in medium ones in larger ones, the smallest transportable by single persons). Settlement kit modules will be developed that can be used for debris recuperation and re-use of damaged facilities. This is crucial as the recent trend in emergency aid is to stimulate as early as possible the self-repair. These kits can be inserted in an affected area (affected city, improvised camp, rural region) to regain as quickly as possible a ‘temporary’ economic and social life. For reaching the ambitious goals, the project team consists of carefully selected partners. The project will be guided by a humanitarian actor (Red Cross). Further, key partners, experts in material and structural engineering, industrial design and architecture, are added for the design of shelters and their materials and for packaging and logistics. This project will provide kits that can be pre-positioned and mobilized very quickly and easily, that are modular and adaptable, low cost, high-tech in their conception but low-tech in use. These anticipated kits can literally improve the lives of millions of peoples the first hours, days and weeks after a major disaster and this for years to come.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Responding to large-scale disasters could become easier with the development of new, innovative kits for humanitarian organisations to aid recovery. The concept has the potential to save many lives.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Many humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross have mechanisms in place to respond quickly to medical, sanitary or other calamities, such as providing energy or water in disaster times. Smarter emergency kits based on novel technologies could help make their work easier, alleviating suffering more easily and even helping to prevent deaths. The EU-funded project 'Rapid deployable kits as seeds for self-recovery' (http://www.speedkits.eu/ (SPEEDKITS)) is working on such a solution for emergency response units.

Within the 'speed kits' concept that underlines rapid response, the project team is also working on the idea of 'seed kits' that represent the so-called seeds for post-disaster self-recovery. These combined kits could contain, for example, durable lightweight tents, new ideas to generate energy, smart packaging features, debris recuperation tools and rapidly deployable mobile hospitals.

In more detail, the S(P)EEDKITS strategy involves availability of pre-positioned speed kits to use right after an emergency and a deployment support tool to prioritise kit types and facilitate transportation. It also envisions high-tech tracking capabilities in real time, relevant best practices for humanitarian organisations and enhanced support for long-term self-recovery. The project is also looking at larger kits for immediate use beyond critical first aid such as sanitation units, sustainable energy generation and a mobile recycling unit for debris.

Work so far has involved defining the different types of shelter, roofs, multipurpose units, progressive houses and mobile storage units. The project team has already designed four prototype kits, continuing to work on water and sanitation kits. The latter include, for example, a foldable raised latrine for emergency cases and a semi-manual water drilling kit. Another interesting innovation includes a pasteurisation and biogas unit for off-site sludge treatment and a sanitation kit to pasteurise sludge early on before depositing.

In parallel, progress has been made towards designing an autonomous rapid deployment plug-and-play hospital that can handle 80 to 120 people, complete with hygienic rooms and critical installations. The project team has also begun disseminating its results to stakeholders through events and exhibitions, presenting novel, high-tech emergency kits that are modular, adaptable, easy to use and low in cost. The kits could eventually improve the lives of millions of people during the first hours, days and weeks after a major disaster.