Barbados, Dec 02, 2005 (CDERA) – Emergency services practitioners in Barbados will join the cadre of trained emergency telecommunications operators in the Caribbean on completion of the emergency telecommunications training course starting on Monday, December 5 at the Frank Walcott Building, Headquarters of the Central Emergency Relief Organisation (CERO).

This two-day workshop is one of 16 being held in all of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) member states to train emergency telecommunications personnel in the use of HF and VHF radio communication and satellite telephone communication and expose them to the standards and protocols of emergency operations centre procedures and emergency communications throughout Caribbean.

The course is being undertaken in all of CDERA 16 Participating States as part of a wider Land-based Search and Rescue Project being implemented by CDERA. The BDS$6M Project seeks to develop by 2006, enhanced search and rescue infrastructure at the national and regional levels as well as provide training in search and rescue techniques.

Barbados has received BDS$154,386 in emergency equipment and supplies. These include nine portable generators, two satellite phones with prepaid minutes, one laptop computer and four search and rescue first responder kits. Each first responder kit comprises almost 100 pieces of equipment ranging from hammer and nails to ladders and pick axes to outfit a four-member search and rescue team.

Additional training in the management and operation of all the equipment and in warehousing will complete the implementation of the land-based search and rescue project which is funded by the Government of Japan through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security which is managed by the United Nations Development Programme.

Participants attending this workshop will include personnel from the police, military, fire and ambulance services, CERO, and other emergency response services.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Andria Grosvenor
Project Manager, CDERA
Telephone: (246) 425-0386
E-mail: cdera@caribsurf.com