Emergency volunteers get training

Twenty-eight emergency volunteers have successfully completed capacity-building exercise and shelter management training.

Addressing Thursday’s graduation ceremony at the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) headquarters in Warrens, St Michael the agency’s director Kerry Hinds told the graduates they were now an asset to the DEM and the national emergency system.

And she said it was important that they understood their role as Barbados seeks to build a resilient emergency response system.

“Over a number of years, the shelter management training has been part and parcel of our training schedule at the national level. We have done this with the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for the shelter management function within the emergency management mechanism.

“It is important that not only the traditional shelter managers like the principals and the representatives from the various churches lead the shelter management team, but it is also important that they have support from those within the community.

“It is definitely a pleasure to see that so many of the District Emergency Organisation (DEO) membership, all community volunteers and persons from the Red Cross, have participated in the training that was undertaken several months ago,” Hinds added.

She also insisted that disaster management was not just the business of the DEM, the Ministry of Education, or the Barbados Police Service. 

Hinds said it was important for volunteers to see their role as significant since they provide immediate search capacity in the event of natural disasters. 

The training workshop was sponsored by USAID. 

(AH)