of the capital Manama faced potentially crushing state forces. International SOS and Control Risks acted swiftly, identifying 150 travelers and expatriates in-country with TravelTracker. On February 17 a lead crisis management team was established in Dubai and an incident management team was sent to Bahrain to provide on-the-ground advice and support to members.
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That same day signs of impending unrest in Libya came with a call for a 'day of rage' in Benghazi on February 17 to end Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule. Within days the country appeared on the brink of civil war. By February 19, as the unrest escalated, a crisis management team was established at International SOS’ London alarm center, supported by teams in Philadelphia, Paris, Beijing and Dubai.
locating the whereabouts of their employees.
In total the teams supported around 1,500 evacuations out of Libya. At airports and ferry terminals in Malta, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amman, Cairo, and Dubai, International SOS reception teams met evacuees and assisted with their immigration and visas, arranged accommodation, and coordinated onward travel home.
Using TravelTracker, International SOS and Control Risks quickly identified 760 members employed in Libya by more than 40 corporations dispersed across a huge area – in Tripoli, Benghazi and the oil fields in the south.
Strategic position On February 21 International SOS and Control Risks established an incident management team at the airport in Malta, strategically one-hour’s flight from Tripoli. With news that some evacuees would be arriving in Malta by ferry, an International SOS team was embedded with the authorities at the Maltese port. As fighting became fiercer, all 27 International SOS alarm centers were mobilized to assist clients in
International SOS and Control Risks deployed two more incident management teams to receive people as needed: one to Sallum in Egypt to receive people from the Eastern cities of Benghazi, Sirte and Brega and one to D’jerba in Tunisia to meet people from the south-west. These comprised experienced medical and logistics experts, together with a paramedic from International SOS’ partner RMSI, specialists in trauma care in hostile environments.
Meeting demand International SOS alarm centers worldwide worked 24 hours a day to meet intense global demand. Crisis management teams in London, Paris and Dubai were supported by logistical,
Country
Tunisia Bahrain Egypt Libya Total
Dates January 13 - 20
Febuary 17 - 22 Febuary 17 - March 3 January 13 - March 3
medical, security and aviation experts around the world from Singapore and Tokyo to Philadelphia and Frankfurt.
Conducting mass evacuations is logistically complex. “We’re in ongoing communication with our clients to exchange information in a rapidly changing environment”, says Michael Hancock, International SOS Group General Manager Assistance Worldwide. “Our teams work closely with our network providers to arrange and support movements by air, road and sea.”
But evacuations are just one element of any travel risk management strategy, “While mass evacuations are one of our core strengths, they are really the last part of the story”, he says. “The whole business of supporting clients in volatile areas is about being prepared. We’re working with clients at every stage of any trip to minimize the risks to travelers – even before they leave home”.
At short notice International SOS and Control Risks mobilized all resources to support crisis response efforts while continuing to deliver usual assistance to clients worldwide.
Total evacuations 180
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1,220 1,516 2,920
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