Participants in the training programme.
PHILIPSBURG–In preparation for the peak of the hurricane season, which started on September 1, MCA Consultancy, and the St. Maarten Association of Psychologists APAP conducted training with four primary emergency responders: the St. Maarten Police Force, St. Maarten Fire Department, St. Maarten Ambulance Service and the Voluntary Corps St. Maarten VKS. This training was provided to 17 participants in middle and upper management positions whose day-to-day jobs entail direct responsibility for mental health psycho-social support for their subordinates.
The training began on Monday, August 27, and lasted for three days. The main focus of the training was the management of emergency services and it encompassed community involvement and mental health and psycho-social care.
The training spanned a total of nine hours, with the phrases “coping mechanisms for the society,” “roles and risks for emergency relief workers” and “working towards resilience” at the forefront of all training materials, it was stated in a press release on Thursday.
Techniques learned by participants included psycho-educational care within disaster management, essential elements of mass trauma intervention, management of fear and stress during disasters, exploring the various impacts of hurricanes, coping mechanisms, and essential team dynamics that could mitigate material and psycho-social damage.
The course was comprehensive and incorporated technical and practical teaching methods to make better use of the benefits that role-playing worst-case scenarios would have on local first responders, the release said.
This training was born through the partnership of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA with the international branch of Association of the Netherlands Municipalities VNGI.
The training is a part of a three-year programme that ends in December 2020 and comprises two main tasks: to draft disaster preparedness plans for healthcare and population care before, during and after a disaster; and necessary support in providing mental health care to those groups within the society that need such care after a disaster.
The training was also pivotal for redesigning the protocols imbedded in government’s disaster management programme. It was solely financed by the Government of St. Maarten, not by the VNGI, because the Dutch Mental Health entity ARKIN was unable to conduct the training before September 1.
As a result, the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour found it imperative to solicit the services of MCA Consultancy, as this would serve as an holistic investment in local professionals, it was stated in the release.
“Thanks and gratitude to the organisers and trainers of the stress management course. I am delighted that our first responders are receiving much-needed support on coping mechanisms to enable them to better deal with stress and fear especially related to disaster management,” VSA Minister Emil Lee said.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80383-primary-emergency-responders-trained
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