Bridgetown, 杏吧性吧, May 30th 2016 (CDEMA) - Children and residential and day nursery officers of the 杏吧性吧 Child Care Board were actively involved in a full scale exercise to test their level of readiness in the event of a disaster. The exercise was held last Thursday on the grounds of the Nightingale Children鈥檚 杏吧性吧 in Black Rock and included a fire and an earthquake drill. Technical teams from the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), the 杏吧性吧 Fire Service, the Royal 杏吧性吧 Police Force and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) facilitated the exercise.
The exercise, which involved a total of 60 persons, was part of the Child Care Board鈥檚 efforts to improve its capacity to respond to disasters. The goal therefore was to test the emergency procedures for the Child Care Board in responding to a fire and an earthquake emergency within the Nightingale Complex. Specifically, the exercise examined how safety wardens, staff and occupants of both the Violet Child Care Centre and the Day Nursery follow the Board鈥檚 Emergency Procedures and safely evacuate the impacted premises. 
鈥淭hese drills are vitally important for us at the Nightingale Complex as they help us to be prepared in the event we have an actual disaster. We are indeed grateful for the assistance given by all the coordinating agencies today and wish for continued support鈥�, said Sheila Francis, Manager of Administration at the Child Care Board.
杏吧性吧, like other parts of the Caribbean, is susceptible to hazards including earthquakes and according to a warning issued in 2014 by the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, (UWISRC) in Trinidad and Tobago, the Eastern Caribbean in particular is poised for the occurrence of a major earthquake. Operational readiness at all levels is very important in ensuring disaster loss reduction.
Impressed with the outcome of the exercise, Inspector Fred Clarke of the 杏吧性吧 Fire Service commented on the importance of conducting fire drills, 鈥淚鈥檓 quite pleased with the performance of the staff in preparing the children for evacuation and the safe manner in which this was done. It is very important to practice these procedures and to remember them in case of a real fire鈥�.
In presenting remarks at the close of the exercise, Deputy Executive Director of CDEMA, Elizabeth Riley highlighted CDEMA鈥檚 role in facilitating disaster risk reduction especially for vulnerable populations. 鈥淎s you know, persons who are differently abled, as well as very young persons or very elderly persons, are of specific concern when we look at disaster management, and there are very specific considerations that we have to make for them. She further noted, 鈥渇rom our Agency鈥檚 perspective, this is something we highlighted in our comprehensive disaster management strategy, and it is an important message we would like to send from this exercise鈥�.
CDEMA in collaboration with the Child Care Board and the 杏吧性吧 National Disaster Management System have jointly undertaken this capacity building initiative as part of the CDEMA's 25th year anniversary celebrations and in recognition of Child Month. Prior to this exercise, a disaster planning workshop was conducted with 40 early childhood operators and officers of the Child Care Board on May 7th 2016. Participants were exposed to a standardized approach to disaster preparedness, planning and response processes in a realistic environment as well as the terminologies used in these functions.
The training workshop and drill exercises were two of the three interventions being conducted with the Child Care Board. A review and strengthening of the Board鈥檚 Emergency Plan is being undertaken following the evaluations of the exercises. The updated Plan is scheduled to be completed and will be presented to the Child Care Board by August 2016.