Shelter Management Training
Published 21st May, 2:18pm
About 125 people showed up at the Prospect Primary School Hall to undergo shelter management training on the evening of Wednesday, May 12th.
“These individuals are genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of the community, they have a heart and want to contribute,” said Disaster Services Coordinator, Lynda Mitchell. “Approximately 75 of these people are here for the first time; it is inspiring to see so many people wanting to get involved and we are also very grateful to the individuals who come back year after year to help.”
A lot of the people that step up to volunteer for shelters come from the Seventh Day Adventist disaster relief organisation ADRA and also through the Red Cross, but Lynda Mitchell says there are people volunteering from all walks of life. “Our recruitment drive is a continuous process; Mrs. Deanna Look Loy, Miss Jen Dixon and I are always on the lookout for residents who are civic minded types, and when we come across someone, whether it be in the supermarket or anywhere else, we just come right out and ask them if they might be willing to contribute some of their time to this worthy cause.”
After an initial welcome from Hazard Management Director, McCleary Frederick and the Chairman of Shelter Operations, Deanna Look Loy the training session got underway. “Obviously, first of all it is critical that the Shelter Managers have their own house in order,” explained Lynda Mitchell. “Volunteers can’t realistically assist anyone if they have not ensured that their own personal preparedness plans are in place.” After overview of the training objectives and the discussion on personal preparedness, the course focused more specifically on shelters and the management of the facilities.
In the Cayman Islands there are twenty Class A shelters approved for use in a hurricane and they can house over 4300 people, but there are also a number of Class B shelters which can provide temporary housing for people in the aftermath of an event. Certain shelters are designated as Emergency Medical Shelters and there is trained medical staff on hand in these shelters. Hurricanes are the primary threat facing the Cayman Islands, but the shelters could well be activated after an earthquake, flood or any other type of natural or man-made disaster that displaces a significant number of residents. At the shelter management training session, the participants received some background on the range of threats that could prompt the opening of the shelters. They learned about the Shelter Manager’s roles and responsibilities, how to set up the shelter, the importance of developing and maintaining a good shelter management team, the range of shelter activities, the contents of the shelters, and how to keep records and maintain the rules of the shelter.
The Shelter Manager’s training is spread out over two evenings with the educational components presented on the first night, and technical and practical aspects on the second. During the technical phase, the trainee managers get hands on experience in the use of hand-held radios and also the generators which would power the facility in the event of an electricity outage. Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) is now testing a new method of registering shelter residents with the use of electronic passport readers. These are being used during the current 2010 training session, however the passport readers are not likely to be rolled out for general use in the shelters this hurricane season, it is still officially just a ‘pilot program’, or what could be described as ‘in the testing phase’, but it is possible that in the future, the Shelter Managers will have a simpler method of tracking shelter capacity and logging residents.
Shelter management training is conducted on an annual basis and is usually held about one month before the start of the hurricane season.
For further information contact: Simon Boxall