Between
April 8th
and April 12th
approximately thirty individuals in Grand Cayman will receive
training in Mass Casualty Management (MCM). The Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO) and Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) are
sponsoring the course.

“A
Mass Casualty Incident is any event resulting in a number of victims
large enough to disrupt the normal course of emergency health care
services,” explained Hazard Management Director, Danielle Coleman.
“This could be a situation such as a major fire, a multi-car
traffic accident, earthquake or a plane crash. Some of the subject
areas covered in the training include emergency medicine, the
organization of advanced medical posts, psychosocial care, the
management of dead bodies, division of roles and responsibilities,
and tasks of the first responders.”

Honourable
Tara Rivers, Minister for Home Affairs said, “Fortunately these
types of mass casualty situations happen rarely in the Cayman Islands
but we have to ensure that when they do happen that we get out
response right. It is likely that in a major incident several
different response agencies will be working together and that adds
complexity. If we don’t practice before we face a major incident it
could easily overwhelm us, and this course makes us better prepared
to provide prompt and appropriate assistance to victims, it will help
us to minimize injuries and prioritize the victims so the most
critical receive the most immediate medical attention.”

The training will take place at the
University College of the Cayman Islands and this year, there will be
5 newly trained local PAHO Instructors assisting with the training.
The new Instructors will be supported by
an existing cadre of experienced local Instructors including
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Barrow, Inspector Ian Yearwood,
Deputy Commandant of the Cayman Islands Cadet Corps Ricardo Henry and
Andrew McLaughlin, Chief Safety Officer at the Cayman Islands
Airports Authority. They are joined by PAHO Emergency Response
Facilitator Mr. Peter Burgess who delivers PAHO training courses
throughout the Caribbean. Mr. Burgess is no stranger to the Cayman
Islands having delivered a range of courses to our first responders
over the years, including Emergency Care and Treatment, Incident
Command Systems and Mass Casualty Management.

The persons attending the course include medical staff
from the Health Services Authority, senior Police, Fire and Prison
Officers, as well as staff from other agencies such as the Port
Authority, the Department of Public Safety Communications and the
Department of the Environmental Health and others.