Disaster response agencies meet

Representatives of various disaster response teams are meeting for three days to discuss Post Disaster Stress Management. One topic of particular interest during the discussions is post disaster counseling. This area became a primary concern after the post Mitch evaluation that took place between countries that were affected by the hurricane in 1998.

Joan Burke, Coordinator, Health Disaster

“The Ministry of Health has the responsibility of responding to any disaster. In responding it means that those who are expected to respond must have the necessary skills. So the workshop is design to provide those who are expected to respond with the necessary skills. It is a workshop that is facilitating that kind of coordination between the different sections. We have representation from the police, the fire and the BDF, and from the Ministry of Health. We also have from the Belize Emergency Response Team, BERT, because in responding we must make sure that we have that kind of multisectoral approach.”

“Throughout the region, the countries that were affected by Mitch, the evaluation pointed out that the post disaster counseling was lacking, because it is not easy having people locked up in shelters for prolonged periods of time. Also, during any disaster people lose stuff. You have bereavement, people lose love ones, they lose properties, and they lose things that they’ve worked their entire lives for. Therefore, preparing people to cope with that loss is very important. We find that for example road traffic accidents, which is something that is affecting the Belizean society, is that yes you go into the hospital, somebody has probably a brain hemorrhage, they died and there is no counseling for the family, or if there is there is little. So that is one of our primary concerns. There is a plan for the country to respond in evacuating people, making sure that food is provided in the shelter, that water is provided, but what happens after? How do you prepare people to turn over that new leaf and start a new life?”

The workshop is being sponsored by the Ministry of Health with the support of the Pan American Health Organization. Meanwhile, the Ministry has published a Health Sector Hurricane Management Plan. The publication outlines the role that every individual in the Ministry of Health, must play during a disaster.