The Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies (DDME) hosted a 3-day training exercise on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. The purpose of this exercise was to certify 30 Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staff and chairs of subcommittee in Emergency Response for all-hazards EOC activation.
Facilitated by General, Earl Arthurs (Operations Specialist) and Ms. Joanne Persad (Programme Manager-Response and Recovery) of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the training was designed to enhance capacities in the principles of management, logistics, operations, planning, and finance within the context of an activated EOC. Additionally, the training course focused on the ability to maintain flexibility during dynamic events when managing disasters and emergencies of all types and intensities. Real-world examples of successful and unsuccessful emergency management situations was used to provide a more realistic and legitimate evaluation of emergency management challenges and best practices. Team building and exercise scenarios were also incorporated into the training as a strategy for increasing effectiveness of the TCI’s EOC team.
During an information brief on this important training exercise, Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, Director DDME commented that “One of the major benefits of the training was that it enabled persons who needed to work with each other for coordinated management of emergencies, to better know and understand each other’s capacities, strengths and propensities within the context of stressful emergency operations. The interactions and dynamics afforded by the training fostered development of long lasting relationships which would only helped to serve and improve the effectiveness of the EOC during future activations in support of real-world incidents.”
A functional table-top exercise was held on the March 23rd, 2017 which gave the participants an opportunity to execute their training. In so doing, this exercise also tested the operability of the National Disaster Management Plan and aid in the identification of gaps that need to be addressed.