St. Philip South - District Emergency Organisation: January 2009

Monday, January 12, 2009

More Emergency Drills Needed In Schools

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Wendy Griffith Watson has called for more emergency drills in schools.

Dr. Griffith-Watson, who is also chief shelter warden, was speaking against the background of several floods across Barbados last year, some of which impacted schools.

She believes frequent drills will help staff and students to be better prepared for any recurrence of the floods and other emergency situations.

"I would like the Red Cross and the District's Emergency Officers to help us arrange emergency drills at our schools throughout the school year. So that it becomes a normal practice and children then too are aware of their duties and responsibilities and parents will feel a little more assured that if something happens their children and the teachers are safe."

Source: www.cbc.bb

DEM Says There Are Too Few Emergency Shelters

The Department of Emergency Management is preparing to launch a comprehensive assessment of the emergency shelters across the island.

Director, Judy Thomas made the announcement while addressing the third in a series of training workshops for emergency shelter managers at the Ministry of Education's conference room

Ms Thomas has outlined several initiatives earmarked for 2009.

Among these is a structural assessment of the emergency shelters across the island, which she says will look at the integrity of the buildings.

"It will help the Ministry of Education to decide what is the most efficient part of the school to allocate as shelters because we are running very short of shelter capacity at the national level and we have to bring on board for more classrooms.'

Ms. Thomas told the workshop, comprising several shelter wardens and other emergency management partners, the department was working on special programme for the schools.

That initiative will see special disaster units set up and run by the students themselves.

"Once they know that their school is going to be a shelter and that is so promoted the children should gang together and ensure the windows are not broken, taps are not broken, water units in the bathrooms are secure and to ensure that their peers also help to keep these things in place."

Ms. Thomas says despite concerns voiced, principals who run the schools on a daily basis are better placed to transform the buildings for emergency situations.

The DEM director says the department is mindful that teachers, who will be responsible for the school based shelters, will need help in the event in an emergency and is urging the community around the schools to get involved.

"We realize that the Department of Emergency Management will never get the kinds of people in it to run all the important sectors and therefore there has to be a serious decentralization of some of the key tasks that are given to us."

She says the department plans to re-launch the Adopt a Shelter programme, which in its new format will allow non-governmental organisation and other international agencies to assist with their development.

Source: www.cbc.bb