ECCB’s Emergency Response Plan given high rating…
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Left~~BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WHILE there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s (ECCB) Emergency Response Plan received a high rating after it was put to the test on Wednesday morning.
Employees of the ECCB and the Basseterre branch of the St. Kitts Nevis Fire and Rescue Services reported for work at their respective institutions this morning and, for the most part, expected an “ordinary” day but that was not the case.
Sometime after 9:00 a.m., the emergency alarm at the ECCB sounded and the employees were forced to evacuate the buildings. The Fire and Rescue Services was contacted and within moments a unit was dispatched and headed for the grounds of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
Fire Station Officer [FSO (Stn)] Everette O’Garro, in an interview with SKNVibes, said the exercise is part of the Fire Department’s promotion of occupational safety and is designed to bring to the fore, any weakness that the emergency plan might have.
“We are trying to do our part with respect to occupational safety and because of the programmes we have implemented to this end, we carry out mock exercises in order to test the readiness of employees to respond to emergencies or to take the necessary measures to ensure that all parties involved are in a state of readiness to take the appropriate action in the event of an emergency. These actions would include quickly evacuating the building to a safe area, contacting the fire services as soon as possible and making sure that they have the appropriate information to pass on the fire and rescue team. This is to help the Fire Services to know what exactly they have to deal with when they get on the scene.”
O’Garro said, as is the custom, only two persons, one at the Fire Rescue Services Department and the Chief of Security at the ECCB, would have prior knowledge of the exercise.
This media house understands that the Chief of Security at the ECCB would plan with the top person in the Fire Services and the exercise would be carried out just as if it were a real emergency “in order to test the readiness of the employees. It is beneficial for the Fire Department because it keeps us on our toes and alerts us on what changes we might need to change to make our response plan better. It also tests the fire prevention plan that we have designated for places such as ECCB, which in turn helps us to fine-tune our plan and find ways of making it better”.
Urging other businesses to take a page from the ECCB’s book, O’Garro said, “Occupational safety is of utmost importance and should not be taken for granted. Every business should seek to implement an emergency plan and conduct exercises to put those plans to the test. This way, any flaws with the plans can be dealt with and in the event that there is a real emergency, the possibility of tragedy is reduced.”
Businesses wishing to learn more about occupational safety or the drafting of an emergency plan can contact the Basseterre Fire Department for assistance.
