The Importance of a Standardized Handover Procedure for Effective Disaster Relief in Affected Areas

Summary: Peace Winds (PW) is an international NGO that provides humanitarian aid to people facing crises worldwide. ARROWS (Airborne Rescue and Relief Operations With Search), a part of PW’s project, supports victims of man made and natural disasters. On January 1, 2024, the Noto Peninsula in Japan suffered a magnitude 7.6 earthquake. During that time, the PW staff and rosters (registered members) were dispatched to the affected area to provide disaster relief. This study aims to discuss the importance of a standardized handover process during humanitarian aid and identify the potential improvements to enhance effective disaster relief activities from the rosters’ perspective for future catastrophes. During the initial relief efforts, the PW staff and the rosters started gathering accurate information, evaluating the victims’ needs, and planning the next steps. However, due to the ever-changing nature of the situation, they needed to adapt to different tasks, which changed day by day. The rosters working on the next phase recognized the need to establish a standardized handover procedure to delegate responsibilities to later-joining rosters effectively. This structured handover process provided a clear overview of the relief efforts to the rosters involved at different times and for different durations. While the handover procedure was successfully created during this response, it could have been further optimized if it had been introduced from the onset of the activities. Thus, the handover process should be discussed in advance between the PW staff and the rosters during preparatory training. This approach may also apply to other organizations with similar personnel structures. An efficient handover process is crucial for disaster management. By discussing responsibility delegation and simulating the handover procedure during preparatory training, cooperation in the actual humanitarian activities could be optimized.