CDEMA to host two day regional training exercise

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jan 10, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) is to host a two-day training exercise aimed at improving regional responses during an emergency situation.
The January 11-12 initiative will bring together security, public health and disaster management personnel from across the Caribbean.
Dubbed, Synergy 2017, it will present emergency scenarios that could occur in the Caribbean region and CDEMA said the exercise is designed to assess and evaluate preparedness and require the participants to work together to provide public health, disaster and security responses; as well as aid in the revision of existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use in real-world responses.
Synergy 2017 is the result of a series of detailed planning conferences involving personnel from the CDEMA, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS).
It is sponsored by the Global Crisis Response Support Programme of the European Union.
“Synergy 2017 is a historic emergency coordination exercise with participants from regional institutions based in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The responses are co-ordinated through a Virtual Crisis Room, made up of personnel from the four agencies collaborating in a virtual environment,” CDEMA noted.
CDEMA said that the overall goal of the exercise, defined by senior public safety personnel is “to continue to enhance the coordination and collaboration arrangements among CDEMA, CARPHA, CARICOM IMPACS and RSS noting the increasing capacities of Caribbean regional institutions will allow for a coordinated regional response to complex emergencies”.