20-21 / 128
20 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Business View Caribbean - September 2016 21
Opening
Lines
Training Exercise Held
for CARICOM’s Primary
Disaster Relief Unit
Thirty-two participants from the disciplined forces,
including police, military and fire services, success-
fully completed four days of training in preparation
for their role in providing relief and humanitarian as-
sistance in the event of a disaster. The annual train-
ing workshop of the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit
(CDRU) was held at the Caribbean Disaster Emer-
gency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) headquar-
ters in Barbados from August 8 to 12, 2016.
The training was facilitated by CDEMA in collabora-
tion with the Regional Security System Headquar-
ters (RSS HQ) with funding from the US government
through the US Southern Command. The CDRU is
one of the specialized teams trained by CDEMA
each year as part of the Regional Response Mech-
anism (RRM).The RRM is coordinated by CDEMA
to provide humanitarian and technical support in a
timely manner if requested by any of the CDEMA’s
18 participating states.
The system is extremely dependent on the readi-
ness and willingness of the governments of partici-
pating states, regional institutions, key development
partners, agencies of the United Nations, and hu-
manitarian partners to work together in offering im-
mediate assistance when the call comes from the
CDEMA Coordinating Unit.
From 1992 -2015, the Regional Response Mecha-
nism has been in action 17 times and in several in-
stances to multiple islands at the same time. The
response has been to disasters resulting from vol-
canic eruptions, earthquakes, and weather related
events.
In his feature address at the closing ceremony, Ron-
ald Jackson, Executive Director of CDEMA said, “I
am very proud of what we have accomplished to-
gether, not just this week but over the past 25 years
of CDERA’s/CDEMA’s existence. Whilst many were
talking about civil/military cooperation and coordi-
nation, the CARICOM Community under the lead-
ership of CDEMA and in partnership with the RSS
and the region’s military, security, and fire chiefs
were actually actively doing it. The significance of
the RRM and the CDRU should not be understated.
There is real capacity in the region to assist our par-
ticipating states,” he added.
The CDRU comprises military, fire, and police assets
drawn from the 18 CDEMA participating states. The
Unit is deployed to provide humanitarian assistance
in direct support to the civil authorities of any state
affected by natural or technological hazards. The CD-
RU’s mission is to conduct disaster response and
relief operations and its main tasks include the man-
agement of relief supplies, emergency telecommu-
nications, and the provision of appropriate person-
nel for repairing critical lifeline facilities.
The four-day training included introductions to di-
saster management, national disaster management
and the National Emergency Operations Centre
(NEOC), introductions to the Regional Supply Track-
ing System (RSTS), incident command system,
urban search and rescue in CDEMA participating
states, dignity and human rights, and civil/military
coordination.
The training concluded with a field training exercise
that allowed the Unit to perform their specific roles
in a hazard impact scenario with bases established
at the airport and sea port. The field exercise setting
allowed for the various phases of operations to be
tested – from alert to deactivation.
The CDRU is activated, mobilized, and deployed by
the Regional Security System’s Central Liaison Of-
fice (RSS/CLO) in consultation with and on behalf
of CDEMA. Its operations are guided by the CDRU
operational plan, standing operating procedures and
a memorandum of understanding between CDEMA
and the RSS.