|
|
|
Last Updated: Jul 30th, 2007 - 10:19:57 |
Castries, Saint Lucia, July 27, 2007 (NEMO) - NEMO repeats its exercise of 2006 and the message remains the same: Conduct Your Own Disaster Preparedness Exercise. "Saint Lucians don't have to wait for NEMO, Red Cross or Government to be prepared - we can do it ourselves"
Based on a model from New Zealand, the National Emergency Management Organisation [NEMO] is taking its message of preparedness one step further.
The message from the Secretariat is for persons to conduct their own Disaster Preparedness Exercise. The date chosen is FRIDAY August 3rd, 2006 the date Hurricane Allen struck Saint Lucia.
As with the New Zealand Exercise; the suggestion is for an informal, nationwide exercise where the public will conduct a preparedness drill at home, work or during the numerous workshop/seminars/meetings that take place daily on the island. "We are actually asking for the various workshops and meetings to stop and participate -- it will only take a few minutes, and it could save lives." The Director of NEMO Dawn French said.
The NEMO Secretariat is requesting that at Midday FRIDAY August 3rd the whole country stop and check how prepared they are, through following the advice constantly given out by NEMO, Red Cross and the Media.
The Director elaborated on the format by explaining, "Assume that at on THURSDAY August 3 at Midday the building you are in collapses."
On that date and time persons are asked to do the following:
- quickly take stock of your situation - wherever you may be - and note what resources you have available;
- think about where our loved-ones are, our dependents, and those in the community who we know cannot readily care for themselves in time of disaster.
- How would we get to them?
It is as simple at that.
The public is urged to bare in mind that most disasters give no warning and that it is important to prepare because the next major earthquake, flood, or landslide that strikes will not necessarily happen when everyone is at home, or with warning.
The situation is not as fanciful as one may think. On March 23, 1972 [35 years ago this March] two hundred and fifty people plummeted fifteen feet to the ground when the auditorium floor of the Saint Lucia Teachers' Training College suddenly collapsed during a Miss Complex Beauty Contest staged by the students.
And here the emergency services pose the question:
- How safe was the last show, rally, sporting event or crusade that you attended?
The brain child of Greg Blanchard, Managing Director of Community Emergency Supplies Ltd., a New Zealand company; Mr. Blanchard may have been speaking to Saint Lucians when he pointed out that "The odds are that it could strike just after you drop the kids off at school, or as you are driving down the road to check the cattle," He said, "Or you could be down ... at the cinema." He continued by pointing out, "The point is, being prepared is not just about being prepared at home: it is about being as well-prepared as possible wherever you are, or being prepared to leave your home."
As we remember the events of March 23, 1972 and use it as a lesson for the future, the NEMO Secretariat repeats its call for Saint Lucians to read the Mass Events Guide to ensure that such incidents don't repeat.
The Mass Crowd Events Guide is still available for comment at the Official Documents Section of the Government of Saint Lucia website or from the NEMO Secretariat at Biseé.
Source: National Emergency Management Office
P O Box 1517, Castries, Saint Lucia
Tel: 758-452-3802/Fax: 758-453-2152
E-mail (main) eoc@candw.lc
(alternate E-mail)slunemo@yahoo.com
NEMO's Web presence: http://www.geocities.com/slunemo
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
