Hurricane Season is Here!

Hurricane season began in June and already Tropical Storms Alberto, Beryl and Chris have brought heavy rains and flooding to the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean and the southern U.S. Predictions point to another busy season, with experts calling for at least three category 5 storms. In addition to the three storms that have already passed, the names chosen for this year’s storms include Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie, and William. Let’s hope we stay clear of the Greek alphabet this year!

Mass Casualty Planning in Full Gear in the Caribbean

Nine Caribbean countries are hosting the Cricket World Cup next March (see January 2006 issue of this Newsletter). In preparation for this event, which will draw huge crowds, and at the request of some Member States, PAHO’s subregional disaster office in Barbados has stepped up training programs in mass casualty management (MCM), incident command systems (ICS) and Emergency Care and Treatment (ECAT).

The host countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) have begun training their emergency response personnel in disaster and mass casualty management. By June, some 325 people had been trained in ECAT, 227 in MCM and 85 in ICS. Training is ongoing and will culminate with simulation exercises in several countries. The training will not only help during the Cricket World Cup, but also to prepare for hurricane season and other emergency situations. The result should be a cadre of well-trained emergency response personnel capable of developing effective mass casualty plans. For more information contact Hugo Martinez at martineh@paho.org.