With the beginning of the 2017 hurricane season just weeks away, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) is appealing to Barbadians to become volunteers in their communities to assist in the event of a natural disaster.
Speaking to the media following the second town hall meeting for Exercise Tradewinds 2017, held at the Princess Margaret School, on Wednesday evening, Director of the DEM, Kerry Hinds, encouraged all Barbadians to consider joining District Emergency Organisations (DEO) as community volunteers.
Hinds said it is important that people within communities build the capacity to be able to support each other in the event a disaster, reminding that residents are always the first responders to emergencies in their neighbourhoods.
“You note that there will be a case where the emergency services will not be able to respond as quickly as you would wish.
“And of course, it is important that persons in the community be their brother’s keeper and they train, they volunteer, so that they would be the first responders to support the community as a whole,” she said.
She informed that while there are 30 DEOs across the island, there has been a falloff in the number of people joining them, noting that many of the volunteers are aging.
On that note, the Director said it is important young people show interest in forming part of the volunteer effort.
“Yes, we have a committed cadre of persons, but of course some of them are aging. And in order to sustain the whole community, disaster management volunteer effort, it is important that we attract younger volunteers, to the District Emergency Organisation.
“What we are looking to in the future is the possibility of going on a parish basis, but still encouraging persons to have their various groups within the communities,” she said.
“At the end of the day, the individual groups will add to the total of the effort. We would like to boast ten years from now, that we have at least 50 000 trained volunteers.”
“It may seem like a utopia, but it is important that we strive to encourage persons to volunteer because at the end of the day, it is the persons within the community that will benefit,” Hinds added. (AH)