BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TAKING infrastructural development and changes into account at the Air and Sea Ports, the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services Department has overhauled the Emergency and Evacuation Plan of St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) and officers there are currently undergoing training in the elements of the new plan.
Head of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services Department C told SKNVibes that for a number of months the Department had been revamping the existing plan and, after it was presented to and accepted by SCASPA, both entities are currently in the implementation phase.
“We are currently training the entire staff of SCASPA as to the contents of the plan as to the appropriate action for them to take in the event of an emergency. The training also includes some fire awareness information.
“We were working on the plan for about two or three months and they have reached the stage where they are comfortable with the document and now the staff is being trained. After that is concluded, there will probably be a complete exercise or simulation to ensure that persons would have grasped the concepts outlined in the plan.”
Speaking to the reasons for reworking the plan, Fire Chief O’Garro explained that as any organisation grows, whether in manpower or infrastructure, it is always a good idea to improve upon such plans.
“A new plan was needed because there were a number of changes which have taken place at the facilities. For instance, renovations and changes have been made at the Airport and a new fire alarm and detection system has been installed by a company from Trinidad. There is also the private lounge which was recently constructed.
“We took all of these into consideration, made sure that they had the appropriate fire prevention, fire suppression, fire detection systems and so on; made sure that the Emergency Plan encompassed the newly-constructed facilities; and the idea was to reinvent the old document and come up with something fresh. And that catered to the changes that have been made at the facilities.”
O’Garro said training of the SCASPA officers is taking place for the duration of this week.
