ODM completes its 11th C.E.R.T training

The Office of Disaster Management with support from the Rotary Club of Dominica, the United Nations Development Programme (U.N.D.P) and the Government of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) successfully completed its 11th C.E.R.T (Community Emergency Response Team) training which ran from January 28 to February 01, 2019.

Acting National Disaster Coordinator at the ODM, Donalson Frederick notes “The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an; all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help individuals protect themselves, family, work colleagues, neighbors, 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 Program enables the development of multifunctional response teams whose members can give critical support to professional first responders, and provide immediate assistance to victims.”

The participants came from communities to include; the Kalinago, Bellevue, Portsmouth and members from Rotary club of Dominica.

The components of said training included:

Basic Firefighting and Utility Control

Disaster Medical Operations

Search and Rescue

Map Reading and Navigation

Emergency communication and

Disaster Management concepts for best practices.

The programme concluded with a closing ceremony where participants were commended for their hard work throughout the week. Successful participants were awarded certificates of completion, out of which ‘Best Team’ and ‘Most Outstanding Participant’ were selected. Participants were also provided with personal protective kit, equipment and tools for them to operate as part of a CERT team.

The Most Outstanding participant in First place prize was awarded to Joan Paul

Second Prize went to Rotarian Delbert Paris.

Best Team was awarded to Team Alpha.

Special mention must also be made of some of the top performers on the training

Rotarian Desrie Elwin

Haynie Attidore

Monelle Alexis

The Ministry of Environment, Climate Resilient, Disaster Management and Urban Renewal and the Office of Disaster Management takes this opportunity to extent special thanks to the sponsors of the program, Instructors, Facilitators (Mr Cecil Shillingford and Ms Cludine Roberts) supervisors, staff of O.D.M, the Ministry of Heath,  the Dominica Fire and Ambulance Services, the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force and the participants who made this training a success.

Office of Disaster Management / ODM

The Office of Disaster Management is committed to taking proactive and timely measures to prevent or reduce the impact of disasters on the Dominican people and economy through its efficient staff and collaborative efforts with national, regional, and international agencies.

ODM works closely with the National Emergency Planning Organisation (NEPO) a governmental organization with responsibility for the planning and organization of counter-disaster measures at central level.

One of NEPO’s key functions is to develop, operate, and maintain a National Emergency Operations Centre in accordance with requirements specified in the National Disaster Plan. More information on the role and functions of NEPO can be found in the National Disaster Plan 2001.

Together, the ODM and NEPO coordinates the overall Disaster Management programme based upon the principles of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.