The Office of Disaster Management (ODM) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has organized a 5-day Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) for 28 volunteers from the West Coast of Dominica on disaster preparedness and response. This training is coming on the heels of announcement made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that hurricane incidents might increase by 45% this year.
“The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training,” the ODM said in a statement. “This valuable course is designed to help individuals protect themselves, family, work colleagues, neighbours, and neighbour-hood in emergency situations. The training provides an opportunity for communities to become more self-reliant when and if disasters affect them and their communities.”
The CERT programme will train response teams to be multifunctional in giving critical support to professional first responders as well as provide immediate assistance to victims when natural disasters occur. The training will empower communities to understand the hazards of disasters and be self-reliant in minimizing the impacts of disasters in the country.
The programme runs from August 19 to 23 on the following modules:
- Disaster Preparedness
- Emergency Communication
- Fire Suppression
- Medical Operations Part I
- Medical Operations Part II
- Light Search and Rescue Operations
- Map Reading and Navigation
- Psychology and Team Organization
- Course Review and Disaster Simulation
This ODM is highly essential considering that Dominica is located in the Atlantic hurricane belt, making the country extremely vulnerable to high-intensity weather storms and hurricanes.
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