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CDERA
Ambassador Ourisman who presented the training materials to Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) said that the donation announced their support for the “Collapsed Structure Rescue Course” and its launch in the Region. The OFDA-developed training course will bring new skills and experience to Search and Rescue (SAR) squads in several Caribbean Countries. In outlining the program, the Ambassador said that the training will expose regional SAR teams to highly technical and demanding training in the most modern and proven techniques and systems to safeguard the lives and property of their countrymen. OFDA will also provide support for the construction of the Field Training Sites and organize further training activities and critical courses, including Medical First Responder, Hazardous Materials First Responder, and Incident Command Systems. Collymore recognized the commitment of USAID/OFDA in partnering with CDERA to strengthen and build regional capacity for disaster risk reduction. He thanked them for their interventions and continued support in search and rescue programme development in the CDERA Participating States, which the United States Southern Command/Humanitarian Assistance Programme (USSOUTHCOM/HAP) began in 2002 through the three-year Search and Rescue Projects. The CDERA Coordinator also acknowledged the significant support received from the United Nations Trust Fund on Human Security (UNTFHS) in the development of the Caribbean’s search and rescue capability. He also observed that this intervention “marks the planting of seeds for a structured, certified search and rescue programme in the region, which reflects best practices as advocated by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group. We anticipate that, by partnering with the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre of the University of the West Indies, we can achieve this outcome in the short to medium term.” He stressed the need for ownership and sustainability as critical to capacity building, and said that the establishment of Regional Search and Rescue Teams must be tied to national capacity and capability.
The items donated are personal safety items and will be used by for training purposes by Urban Search and Rescue Teams in CDERA Participating States and will be stored at the Sub–Regional Warehouse for emergency response items in Barbados. For More Information on Urban Search and Rescue Training, Please Contact: |
