JUST last week, Guyana’s Civil Defence Commission (CDC) announced that 41 trainees had completed one of its most promising safety initiatives, the Voluntary Emergency Response Team (VERT) Programme. The CDC launched the VERT programme last year as a public-private partnership with ExxonMobil’s Guyana subsidiary, the Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Agency (CDEMA), the University of Guyana, and the Guyana Defence Force.

VERT is meant to build on the CDC’s launch of its Volunteer Corps in 2012 and help to give Guyana greater trained capacity to respond to a variety of emergencies by ensuring that local communities have individuals who are trained to assess risks and needs and coordinate disaster-relief services.

Major energy companies often engage in emergency preparedness training programmes of this kind. Members are trained in basic techniques and terms for disaster management, emergency response, risk assessment and more. They also offer capacity-building opportunities for local communities, as the training is often applicable to a number of potential scenarios.

The programmes are also intended to provide secondary benefits by helping to develop institutions more capable of responding to serious issues and, as a result, make the national government and its local counterparts more prepared for any type of emergency. Doing so benefits both the operators and local communities.

Volunteers for the VERT programme came from all across the country and represented a variety of skill- sets, regions, and experience levels. The first batch of 41 trainees received an Introduction to Disaster Risk Management certificate from the University of Guyana when they completed their training early last week.

The community aspect is particularly important, since locals will often know better than outsiders what the area needs most, where the vulnerable populations and places are and who can play a vital role in coordinating and directing external help. Community members are also in position to respond first in an emergency.

The skills that volunteers will take back to their home regions can be readily applied to other areas. Having this kind of trained personnel on the ground helps coordinate a rapid and effective response to any sort of disaster from floods and serious storms, to an industrial disaster spilling over from a neighbouring country.

In January 2005, when floods struck much of the country, our emergency-response capabilities were less sophisticated and rescue and recovery efforts were hampered by a lack of citizens available on short notice and trained to respond. Having community volunteers with this kind of experience helps prepare at-risk areas for disaster, especially in view of complications with getting supplies and support to impacted areas.

According to media reports, plans are also in the works for expanding this training to regional organisations over the next few years. With Guyana’s energy industry expected to play a prominent role in the economy for the next few decades, this could be an important step to maintaining our readiness for any kind of disaster in the long term.