Government Information Service

by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service

Efforts are being made to sharpen the skills of officers of the Fire and Ambulance Services Division. The officers began training in search and rescue techniques on Monday, 10th August, 2009 at the Public Service Union building.

The activity is being facilitated by representatives of the International Fire Training Force, IFTF. According to Chief Fire Officer, Josiah Dupuis, the training came about as a result of data collected over several years but is the brainchild of fire officer, Malcolm Christian.

“We have seen that, over the years and particularly in the last ten (10) years, probably a little more than that, we have seen how important the function of search and rescue is.  Particularly so, where we look at the use of the ambulance itself, how important it is vis-à-vis our functions as fire officers. When your data suggest that at least ninety-five percent (95%) of all  your calls involve skills related to search and rescue, I think that the writing is certainly on the wall and it behoves that particular agency to do any and everything thing which it must do or can do to improve its capacity in that particular function.”

Chief Personnel Officer, Irma Edwards, in delivering brief remarks at the opening ceremony, commended the officers for the initiative taken in seeking to enhance their skills and ultimately their job.

“It is my understanding that more and more you are being called upon to undertake search and rescue operations and hence this training has been in response to the growing need for particular skills and expertise. I, therefore, commend you very highly for the initiative taken in ensuring that you confront the challenges of your work from a position of strength that only knowledge, skills and competency can afford.”

President of the International Fire Training Force, Patrick Mc Dermott, encouraged participants to participate fully in the training exercises.

“For about, let us say, the past fifteen (15) to twenty (20) years, there has been some cutting edge things happening in public safety especially with the fire department. We are finding now that fires are decreasing while emergency medical services are increasing along with technical rescues: water rescue, collapse rescue, hazmat, bombings and terrorism; these things are on the rise.

What we are finding now that information, as the chief said, is the key. Knowledge for changing incidents, knowledge on how to adapt to and how to mitigate these incidents is key to succeeding in your job. You have to grasp the opportunity, you have to grasp the knowledge, and you have to pick our brains while we are here this week.”

Mr. Mc Dermott told the officers that in light of advance and more technical challenges involved in search and rescue operations that it is important to adopt new measures to help meet those challenges.

“Information and communication provides a catalyst that will move you into the next state of your training and more technical training. Look at the cutting edge things you have in front of you: your fire brigade, your community. These are the cutting edge things that you should employ and work together with. You have to adapt to the new challenges ahead of you, for example, Dominica is a tourist destination and it can be a soft target for terrorism. You do not have enough man power to meet those kinds of incidents. We do not have that kind of man power either in Chicago. But we have to train the community in what we call ‘Community Emergency Response Training.’ I say so because eighty percent (80%) of the victims that are saved at any disaster are saved by the first respondents, members of the community and if we can train them in First Aid, CPR, light rescue then we can be confident that a lot much can be done by the time you arrive.”

The training is expected to run for the entire week and will include water search and rescue