Community Disaster Response Teams
The air changes on June 1st. At least it has felt that way since September 2004. From our school days we have been taught to “stock up” “prepare” “make a plan” and we can recite the items of a disaster supply kit in our sleep. Yet though we all feel it, there still remains a significant number of us who refuse to act on those messages. While this choice is made by the individual, it is one that affects the entire community.
Those who talk about “the way it was” will understand what that means, whereas those who don’t even know the names of the people living next to them won’t have a clue what this is about. The common example goes like this: imagine you have secured your home. You have done everything right: shutters are closed, water is stocked, projectiles secured. Now imagine your neighbor across the street hasn’t bothered. The equation is obvious: pile of unsecured bricks + 200 mph winds= uh oh!. Problem is there is no guarantee the wind will be blowing towards his house and not yours. Suddenly you are not so safe.
Yet this example is much too shallow. If anything, September 2004 taught us that houses can be rebuilt, roads can be unblocked, cars can be replaced. But what of human life? What of the damage done by the preventable loss of human life?
There was another lesson which we learned that September, when the loss of electricity forced us to keep our doors and windows open, and the shortage of water and other goods taught us how to share once again and suddenly we once again became communities, just “the way it was”. It is that lesson which we forgot which holds the key for the way forward in disaster preparedness and response.
The concept is not new, but it has gained new respect and new life: Community Based Disaster Response. A new spin on the old “neighbors helping neighbors”. So what changes have occurred that justify the new name? The answer lies on one powerful word: training.
In 2006 the Cayman Islands Red Cross embarked on a project funded by the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) which aimed to empower communities at its most grassroots level by giving them the tools that they needed to prepare for and respond to a disaster. While the project ended in February 2007 the seeds which were planted the previous year took root, most notably in Bodden Town.
The Belford Estates Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) is one of the most active community teams in Grand Cayman. The CIRC has worked closely with the Belford Team and has provided them with training to enhance existing skills and introduce new skills which are critical to their community. These skills include first aid/cpr/aed, hazard and resources mapping, family and community disaster response planning, and radio and communication skills, to name a few.
Based on the finding of a community vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA), residents from the community were able to come together and address some of their concerns. The Belford CDRT group has done everything from basic clean ups to petition Government officials for assistance in areas beyond their control. They have also formulated a community disaster response plan which has mapped the entire community and has given the members of the CDRT responsibilities over their neighbors. The scope of their responsibility ranges from assisting the vulnerable in boarding up their homes prior to a hurricane to evacuating those most at risk to the nearest shelters.
“CDRTs are not meant to replace a national system of response, they are meant to enhance the national system,” explains the CIRC Disaster Manager Hemant Balgobin. “No one knows what will happen in a disaster, which roads will be blocked and what communities will be cut off. National response agencies such as the Red Cross, HMCI, Health Services, etc, still have roles to play in these communities, but the reality is that it may take hours or even days to clear the rubble and get there. CDRTs are able to provide an immediate response to their community’s immediate needs until such time as the other agencies can get there,” he adds.
The Belford CDRT group continues to be active in ensuring that their community is as ready as it can be not only for hurricane season, but for any disaster which may affect them. Yet even in the midst of their own preparations, they have seen the benefit of their training and their work and they have recently joined the Red Cross in an effort to extend an offer to other communities in Bodden Town to help them form their own CDRT.
The Cayman Islands Red Cross will continue to make itself available to any and all communities who wish to develop or enhance their response mechanisms. Anyone interested in finding out more on how to get a CDRT started in their community should contact Hemant Balgobin, Disaster Manager as 345-949-6785 (extension 22). Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
