How a unique shelter solution provides emergency responders with the best home from home while on the ground at natural disaster response sites.
In October 2022, the New South Wales Riverina town of Deniliquin and surrounding areas were under siege from rapidly rising flood waters from the River Murray. Emergency responders from many services were called upon to work around the clock in the most trying of conditions to undertake rescue and relief operations. Under normal circumstances, these responders would be billeted, housed in hotels, or in makeshift tent cities on sports ovals. But with these options unavailable or already at their limit, another solution was needed to provide much-needed rest and fatigue management to on-ground personnel. The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) called upon Humanihut to assist.
As the Managing Director of Humanihut, based on my own deployments during my time in the Australian Army and at emergency response sites globally, I am only too aware that a poorly managed fatigue response for emergency service personnel and volunteers can lead to mistakes and even deaths.
Natural disasters such as bushfires and floods can create extremely stressful and demanding situations that can take a heavy toll on emergency service responders. These individuals are often required to work long hours in challenging conditions, such as extreme heat, cold or wet weather, and deal with the aftermath of widespread damage and destruction. This combination of factors can contribute to physical and mental exhaustion, which can significantly impair their ability to perform their duties effectively and safely.
When you have personnel working in extreme conditions for long periods of time, fatigue management is critical and emergency responders need the right conditions and right amount of time for people to recover and get back out in the field.
For Deniliquin, the NSWRFS requested a Humanihut Basecamp solution to house staff and responders as near to the impacted areas as possible. In a matter of days, the foldable, rigid and completely self-sufficient Basecamp was on the ground and available for use.
The Humanihut Basecamp was in South Australia when requested. It was road transported and then re-established in Deniliquin within 72 hours.
Transportability and short turnaround times are key for emergency-responder organisations and Humanihut was able to be on site in Deniliquin in days, even with roads washed out and other transport issues to overcome, and able to house people in fully supported accommodation with power, water and shower and toilet facilities.
During the deployment the Premier of NSW, Dominic Perrottet, and the NSW Minister for Emergency Services, Stephanie Cooke, visited the site, and two NSW RFS Deputy Commissioners slept in the Humanihut accommodation and indicated it had been a positive.
For personnel on the ground the experience was impressive. Tony Hill from Marine Rescue NSW spent a week in the Humanihut Field Infrastructure System. ‘I was so impressed with the setup. It was nice to have hot showers and air-conditioned cabins to return to after being covered in mud all day!’
As the deployment in Deniliquin was winding down, the need for the Humanihut Field Infrastructure solution shifted to South Australia in order to assist with the emergency service response to the flooding events in the Riverland towns of Berri and Bamera.
The needs in South Australia’s response were very similar to those of the flood events in New South Wales, but in this instance the Humanihut Field Infrastructure System was used to house people displaced by the flooding.
What traditionally happens with emergency service responses during floods is that community ovals or sport grounds are taken over with small tent cities for responders to sleep in. In a flood emergency, canvas tents generally don’t provide the best solution for fatigued emergency-service responders to get the proper rest.
With the Humanihut solution not only do they have a completely enclosed, solid structure to rest in, it comes equipped with power for lighting, reverse-cycle air conditioning and power points for any electrical devices like mobile phones that may require charging. The Basecamp solution also includes shower and toilet blocks, so everything needed to recover is located in the one spot within the one solution.
Following recent flooding events in the Pilbara in Western Australia in early 2023, Humanihut is being used to support members of the displaced indigenous community to relocate back onto country.
In this instance, in addition to the two Basecamp solutions, kitchens, generators, wastewater treatment plants and potable water systems will be established and maintained by a team of two Humanihut staff.
In this instance, the importance of working collaboratively with local elders and the indigenous community cannot be understated.
This is a solution that they need to feel comfortable using, and it needs to be tailored to meet their specific requirements. We have worked with indigenous communities in other parts of Australia, and we have taken learnings from those deployments to this one. We will continue to work closely with the elders and community to adapt the Humanihut Basecamp and other solutions to make sure it exceeds their expectations.
Humanihut continues to expand its solutions and works closely with emergency services around the country, taking on feedback after each deployment to constantly refine and improve the offering.
We know the initial design has been proven as the best solution for re-deployable emergency-service accommodation and infrastructure, and the constant improvements we make based on feedback from the emergency service personnel themselves is what makes this a truly unique offering. We are thankful for the open and honest lines of communication we have with emergency services throughout Australia, and the Ministers and staff of the departments that support them.
About the Author
Neale Sutton
Neale Sutton is the co-founder and Managing Director of Humanihut, the rapidly deployable, foldable shelter and storage system. Neale’s lengthy military career, a period of service in the United Nations, and roles in government and private sectors which focused on community support and refugee responses in several countries, initiated his determination to find a better way to house displaced people than in canvas tents on dirt floors.
