ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica— A newly formed community disaster risk management group in the New River District of St Elizabeth is positioning itself as the first line of defence against natural hazards and disasters.

The five-member team of dedicated men and women have been active in the community since July 2021, sensitising and preparing the residents of New River to respond quickly to major events such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

This is being done through the staging of drills and seminars with the aid of key agencies such as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation’s Parish Disaster Preparedness Committee, Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) and more.

Members of the group benefited from critical training conducted by ODPEM in areas such as first aid and Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and developing emergency response and disaster management plans.

The work of the group was recently on display when members mobilised residents to participate in an earthquake and evacuation drill.

The exercise was conducted on Tuesday, January 18, in partnership with key agencies such as ODPEM and the JFB.

Also lending support were the Social Development Commission (SDC), Ministry of Health and Wellness, St Elizabeth Health Department and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The drill tested the community’s response to a potential earthquake as well as the first-aid capacity of the group, including members’ ability to efficiently manage resources during an emergency.

Member of the New River Community Disaster Risk Management Group, Nacar Rose, stated that preparing community members for a disaster and developing a response plan is crucial, as it means saving lives.

Rose said he is happy to volunteer his services to help his community and impart what he knows to others, so that residents can be better prepared in the event of a disaster.

“I am a people person, so I am interested in making sure that the community I live in is a safe community. I’ve been trained in first aid, CPR, and given information on what to do, how to organise the community in case of a disaster or during a disaster,” he noted.

Another group member, Kadian Dunkley, added that she has always wanted to serve her New River community in a special way and joining the disaster risk management group has given her that opportunity.

“I like to volunteer, especially in my community. I love to see improvement… and activities like these [help residents], and motivate me to do more,” she noted.

Dunkley said that the drill is important as it instructs residents on what to do during an earthquake and other disaster.

She further stated that the disaster risk management group is now looking forward to other community projects in a bid to keep New River safe.

The recent community earthquake and evacuation drill in New River also formed parts of Earthquake Awareness Week activities from January 16 to 22.

Southern Regional Coordinator for ODPEM, Camille Beckford-Palmer, shared that the exercise was necessary to demonstrate the group’s commitment to educate and mobilise community members.

 “The purpose of this drill is to ensure that persons in their homes, in their everyday environment, know what to do if an earthquake should come, ” Beckford-Palmer said.

“So, we are very happy for all the agencies that came out and participated, as well as the community members. We just want to encourage every Jamaican to be safe,” she added.

Parish Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness at the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, Ornella Lewis, noted that having a community disaster risk management group in place “upscales the disaster plan both at the parish and national levels”.

She pointed out that such groups will be able to reduce the risks to loss of life and property before an external agency is able to come in to render further support.

“They have a structure to what they do. So, you have persons in charge of things like sensitisation. All the team members are trained in first aid and CPR so they know what to do in whatever eventuality,” Lewis said.

“Teams like these are important. We need the community support to feed into the parish level, the parish level feeds into the regional and then into the national,” she added.