NODS Head Discusses New Evacuation Plan

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Environment Articles

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 02:30

By press release

Antigua & Barbuda and other member states of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) will soon have a model Evacuation Policy and Plan that they may adopt as necessary.

According to a press release, the document was an agenda item of a Plan Development and Review Sub-Committee meeting last Friday in Barbados attended by regional disaster heads including Director of the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) Philmore Mullin, chairman of the sub-committee.

The model Evacuation Policy and Plan is a new tool being developed for CDEMA, triggered by a number of issues facing countries throughout the region.

The sub-committee did not complete the review of the document on Friday, but will do so by round robin in their respective countries.

The other documents covered at the meeting were the Sub-regional Coordination Centre Plan, the Regional Coordination Centre Plan, and the Warehouse Management Plan.

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The Sub-regional Plan guides the Sub-Regional Focal Points on how they respond to requests from member states and relate to CDEMA in emergencies, while the Regional Coordination Centre Plan determines CDEMA’s action with respect to requests from member states.

Mullin said the Warehousing Management Plan, which was developed after Hurricane Luis in 1995, is being upgraded to reflect changes made over the years. “When the Plan was developed, there was no regional warehouse,” he said. “It did not look at storage of items in a country and things like logistical requirements for shipment. We are now in a position to move a greater volume of relief items into impacted states. Mechanisms to do this were not standardised.”

After reviewing the documents, they will be forwarded to the Technical Advisory Committee of CDEMA to be sent on for approval to the CDEMA Council, the heads of government who determine the policies.

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