4.1 Factors to consider when selecting emergency personnel

• What are the most important staffing factors for the emergency team?

• • Level of experience in an emergency context
  • Overall number of personnel required or possible within budget constraints
  • Balance of knowledge and skills required within the team
  • Level of sector experience deemed necessary for specific roles
  • Balance of gender and diversity within the team
  • Local or regional knowledge
  • Language ability
  • Health considerations and specific security threats to individuals or the team on the advice of the CI Security Unit
  • Location of the emergency
  • Proximity to the disaster and availability for rapid deployment
• Are there additional challenges of assessment and start-up operations?
  • The assessment stage typically demands a high level of expertise, staff that must be able to operate in such a high-risk environment with minimum support or supervision.
  • Typically, the assessment team will be made up of staff with experience in a similar emergency response operation.
• What are the gender and diversity considerations to ensure a balanced team?
  • Gender and diversity factors must be considered in an emergency context to ensure that all staff is able to work effectively.
  • The CO may need to modify the work and living conditions, environment or location constraints to prevent or minimise the exclusion of some staff from the emergency operation (refer to Chapter 1 Gender, and Chapter 4 Administration).