The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) seeks to reduce the risks associated with hazards within communities by advocating prevention and mitigation measures. One of the objectives of the ODPM focuses on assisting communities to prepare for the impact of hazards. Furthermore, the ODPM promotes sustainability and resilience at the community level as the basis for promoting sustainability and resilience at the national level. Capacity strengthening at the community level can be advocated primarily through general awareness programmes and continuous training. Consequently, the ODPM’s Community Outreach Programme Unit’s purpose involves strengthening community level capacity for mitigation management, coordinated response and recovery to natural, man-made and technological hazards, and the effects of climate change.
In communities, intent, beliefs, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be prevalent, thus affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. An aspect of this which is of particular interest to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) is the issue of risk as it relates to natural, man made and technological hazards and how they adversely impact communities. Risk can be defined as the probability of exceeding a specific level of social, environmental and/or economic damage over a predetermined period of time (USAID 2005). The aforementioned hazards can impact greatly on the social and economic livelihood of a community as well as its critical infrastructure.
With this in mind, the ODPM in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development Culture and Gender Affairs (MCDCGA) will embark on a Community Pilot Disaster Management Programme which will be officially launched January 2010. This programme is expected to last six (6) months and will be a comprehensive community outreach initiative. This article will focus on the upcoming community pilot programme and current community outreach initiates conducted in collaboration with the MCDCGA.
The community pilot programme is based on pooling resources with key stakeholders such as ministries, the security services and stalwart non governmental organizations (NGOs and a Train the Trainer concept. A programme has been developed with a focus on several core areas - General Awareness Programmes, Basic First Aid and CPR Training Incident Command System (ICS; training tailored for the community), the conduct of fire drills and other emergency evacuation protocols, a Volunteer and Skills Development Programme, a Recovery Programme and the “Securing of the Home” programme which will promote best practices such as adhering to proper building codes for home construction and other pertinent practices.
The Train the Trainer concept would be utilised in the General Awareness programme. To start, the ODPM will conduct a standardized community presentation to community officers from the MCDCGA who will in turn present this concept to members of various communities throughout the country. At the end of each presentation community members will become fully aware of the hazards that affect our region and what they can do at the community level to reduce their vulnerabilities. It is important to note that at each community meeting, members of the audience would also be provided with a template of the Community Disaster Management Plan and a Home Disaster Management Plan. It would be the responsibility of each community to tailor these plans to meet their particular needs. Providing community members with basic first aid and CPR will also be another crucial aspect of the Community Pilot Programme. This will be facilitated by the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society.
Another focal point of the programme would be the implementation of ICS training designed specifically for communities in Trinidad. ICS is a flexible and dynamic response organisation tool providing a common framework within which people can work together effectively. It consists of a standard management hierarchy and procedures for managing temporary incident(s) of any size. Consequently, when the ICS guidelines are implemented by communities they would then be able to manage hazards impacts strategically which would as a result foster greater community sustainability. The ODPM maintains a strong working relationship with Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS), which acts as one of the nation’s First Responders in the event of a crisis. Therefore the ODPM will seek the assistance of the TTFS to conduct fire drills, safety simulations and other emergency evacuation protocols. They would also be expected to assist in the development of fire safety plans within each community according to their structure, dimension, resources and topography.
The Volunteer and Skills Development programme will concentrate on the application of risk reduction measures within our nation’s communities. This would involve activities such as implementing Early Warning Systems and assisting in simulated exercises tailored for the elderly and special needs populations. The ODPM strongly advocates volunteerism as it believes partnerships among civil society is equally important. The other aspect, the Recovery Programme involves the conduct of phenomenologies within vulnerable communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Persons would be interviewed in order to capture live experiences of how they coped during and how they recovered after a disaster. They would also be asked to relate their experiences to specific hazards occurrences. The data collected would be documented, analysed and published. The “Secure the Home” portion of the programme would be a collaborated effort of the ODPM and the Habitat for Humanity Trinidad and Tobago, an international NGO, with a branch in Trinidad and Tobago. This would involve the conduct of public awareness presentations and workshops that emphasise the home as your first shelter and adhering to correct building codes. All these prospective initiatives are expected to commence in January 2010 and conclude in June 2010.
While the ODPM is moving full speed ahead with the launch of its Community Pilot Programme it is imperative to underscore this year’s Community Outreach Initiative which engaged communities in the North East area. Some of these communities were selected based on the experiences they had with severe flooding and landslides. The community presentation focused on the hazards to which Trinidad and Tobago are prone and how members of the communities can better prepare themselves for these hazard occurrences. The communities that were previously visited during the period July to August 2009 were Brazil, Brasso Seco, Manuel Congo, Mt. Pleasant (Arima) and Sun Valley (Arima). The Brasso Seco community truly stood out among all the other communities visited because community members from Blanchisseuse, Morne La Croix, representatives from the Brasso Seco / Paria Tourism Action Committee, the Brasso Seco / Paria Village Council and the Reforestation Programme were in attendance. Members of the audience shared experiences that they had with landslides and how it affected their homes and families; the recovery process at an individual and community level was also shared. The interesting aspect of this particular visit was that the audience was able to relate to the information they received and were truly grateful for the ODPM’s contribution on community disaster management.
This interaction and penetration of the communities was quite successful; they greatly appreciated the information dispensed and looked forward to working along with us in the promotion of community resilience. Follow up exercises will then be conducted along with assistance from Habitat for Humanity. The ODPM intends to visit additional communities before the end of 2009 and close this phase as it prepares for its major launch in January 2010.
Safer households and communities equal a safer nation. Therefore, by means of the ODPM’s Community Outreach Programme, the collaborative efforts of key stakeholders and the co-operation of community groups, this mission can become a reality. This programme is an example of how we intend to implement the guidelines of PLAN, PREPARE, PRESERVE throughout the nation.
For more information on hazards or to receive additional information, please contact the ODPM via telephone at 640 1285; via fax at 640 8988; via our website at www.odpm.gov.tt; via email at publicinformation@odpm.gov.tt; or via Facebook at ODPMTT.