Although Dominica as a country has not officially registered to participate in a Caribbean-wide simulation exercise on March 17, some community organisations and schools in the north of the island will participate at a localized level.
The exercise will be coordinated locally by Dominica Public Seismic Network Inc, an NGO which has been working closely with communities to build resilience to earthquake, volcanic and tsunami hazards.
Expected to take part in this exercise are the Portsmouth Disaster Management Committee, the Portsmouth Hospital, the Dublanc and Colihaut Disaster Committees and the St. John’s and Dublanc Primary Schools.
Each participating organization will receive simulated warnings based on the messages received from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and will activate their own tsunami emergency response plans. Participation will take the form of table top, drills and functional exercises.
Dominica’s community participation in this year’s Caribe Wave exercise supports current efforts in Portsmouth, Dublanc and Colihaut to heighten awareness of tsunami and other geological hazards, and to develop early warning systems for these threats. Another important objective is that of building awareness in these communities and other low lying coastal areas of the need to have proper community response and evacuation plans for tsunamis and other hazards.
At the end of Thursday’s exercise the participating groups are expected to conduct an After Action Review (AAR). The recommendations which may surface at these AAR events will be used to update disaster response plans for the respective schools, organisations and communities.
It is anticipated that this year’s community participation in this exercise will encourage other communities and groups to participate in similar events in the future, which hopefully will also include a national response encompassing the Public and Private sector, as well as civil society.
The Public Seismic Network Inc., Dominica (DPSN) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental organization in Dominica. DPSN is dedicated to providing information on tsunamis and other geological hazards in an effort to build capacity at the community level in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Disaster Risk Management (DRM).
Persons wishing to follow the regional tsunami simulation exercise may do so by visiting the DPSN website at http://www.dpsninc.org, Facebook and Twitter, where links to related organisations and additional hazard awareness information are also available.
The simulation is organized by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS) of the United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and participating countries.
The purpose of the exercise is to advance tsunami preparedness efforts in the Caribbean and Adjacent regions, based on Venezuela and Northern Hispaniola scenarios.
When will we have a de- simulation exercise on child molestation & abuse?
“Although Dominica as a country has not officially registered to participate in a Caribbean-wide simulation ” I tell all you before that not a country anymore, just an Island with folks living on it.