Tuesday 8th October -Nine additional residents of Anegada are now certified emergency responders,
having participated in the Anegada Zonal Disaster Management Team training.
The training was facilitated by the Department of Disaster Management (DDM)
in collaboration with the BVI Red Cross and the Virgin Islands Fire and Rescue
Service which provided First Aid certification and fire suppression techniques
respectively.
Similar to persons who would have participated in the previous Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, this group of participants was equipped
with basic disaster response skills to enable them to adequately provide
emergency support in the event of a disaster or hazard impact.
The training also included sessions on basic search and rescue, VHF radio
communication, disaster medical operations, disaster psychology, damage
assessment and shelter management.
Training Officer at the DDM, Ms. Carishma Hicks said “given the particular
vulnerabilities of the Anegada community, training sessions such as these help
to empower residents to play a more active role in their community, while
building the capacity required to achieve an appropriate level of disaster
preparedness and functioning disaster response and recovery mechanisms.”
Members of the group have already requested additional training, which the
DDM will explore once funding is available. Plans are already underway to test
the newly acquired disaster management skills of residents with a simulation
exercise, scheduled for early November.
Similar to the already established CERT teams, the Anegada Zonal Disaster
Management Team is intended to build disaster management capacity among the
sister islands and to bolster the work of emergency first responders in the
event of a hazard impact. Team members are also expected to function as disaster
management advocates within the Anegada community.
The community emergency response training falls under the Community
Preparedness programme area of the DDM. The training was funded through the Caribbean Risk
Management Initiative (CRMI) project and managed by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
The Department of Disaster Management is the Government agency mandated to
reduce the loss of life and property attributable to disasters by ensuring that
adequate preparedness and mitigation measures and response and recovery
mechanisms are established to counteract the impact of natural and technological
hazards.
