Officials discuss disaster management

It is difficult to be over prepared for disasters, and that’s why–at the start of hurricane season–those who must manage Belize’s emergency management efforts are taking no chances. Jacqueline Woods has more.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

How well prepared are Caribbean countries to deal with natural and technical disasters? That’s the question being examined at a two-day workshop hosted in Belize City.

Col. Mike Brown, Coordinator, Emergency Workshop

“Well the objective has been to bring together the Caribbean states to discuss emergency preparedness. How we can better prepare regionally as well as individually to respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of disasters.”

One of the workshop’s coordinators is Colonel Mike Brown. Brown is the Assistant Director for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in the United States.

Col. Mike Brown

“Well we have discussed a little bit about oil spills, we’ve discussed a little bit about natural hazards such as hurricanes. One gentleman brought up volcanoes…couldn’t get any help from me on that, but we have had a variety of disasters that have been discussed.”

But as the participants were told, no matter how highly trained they have been to respond to emergencies, a plan will only work in times of disasters when teams put their differences aside and learn to work and interact successfully with one another. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.

The Emergency Preparedness Workshop conducted at the Princess Hotel will come to a close on Thursday.