Minister of Health, Donville Inniss??
Strengthening the capacity of health care workers and others to respond to natural disasters, namely hurricanes and earthquakes, will be the key aim of a seminar to be hosted next month by the Ministry of Health.
The "Disaster Management" seminar which is slated for the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, on Wednesday, March 10, targets over 150 senior personnel. These include managers in the Ministry of Health and its health care institutions, emergency ambulance personnel, members of the Barbados Defence Force and the Royal Barbados Police Force, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Emergency Management and the media.
It also aims to equip staff to respond pre-emptively and strategically to the threat of natural disasters, improve their knowledge base of such disasters and allow them to practise and sharpen their skills of in the area of disaster management of natural disasters.
Key features of the seminar will include an overview of disasters, both regionally and internationally and a simulation exercise by disaster management consultants.
At the end of the one-day workshop, the Health Ministry hopes to develop a cadre of persons who would aid in the development of standard operational procedures for all types of disasters.
The seminar gets under way at 9:00 a.m. when Minister of Health, Donville Inniss, will deliver opening remarks and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joy St. John, will welcome participants.